Vongola Academy
by WinterAngel24
Summary: It didn't matter what other people thought, as long as she remained out of the lime light. So why was Reborn, one of the most popular guys in school, trying to make her his new lackey? And what is Giotto getting jealous for? RebornxFemTsuna
1. Chapter 1 Meet the Devil

**Okay, so I really was planning on working on my other stories, but some new ones have been haunting me forever now! So to work it out of my system, I have started typing this one up and I'll update deciding on reviews. If people aren't interested, then I'll work on my other stories, if you guys are, then I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can!**

**Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I can only wish to ever own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, but I do _not_. All credit goes to Akira Amano.**

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><p>Chapter 1 Meet the Devil<p>

The students eyed the clock anxiously as they waited for class to end. It was a beautiful day and many of them were planning on spending it outdoors with friends. It was a shame that it wasn't quite the weekend yet, or they would take the chance to spend the day at the nearby town. Then, freedom! With one last reminder to finish their homework, the students were able to rush out of the classroom to locate their other friends.

Only a lone figure took her time as she slowly packed away her belongings and headed out of the classroom, quite thankful that yet another day had _finally_ come to an end. At least she could finally get away from all the taunting and teasing and just relax in her dorm. Hopefully no one would bother her today.

A group of students in the same year snickered at the girl as she walked past.

"Dame-Tsuna is so pathetic," a male student said with a smirk.

"If she wasn't so lame, then maybe people would actually want to hang out with her!" His female companion added with a sneer of her own.

A few others laughed as well, but grew bored when their teasing didn't elicit any response and continued on their way.

Tsuna sighed inwardly. She was used to this by now. Their petty insults didn't hurt her as much as they used to.

Such is the life of Dame-Tsuna.

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><p>Reborn was pissed.<p>

Why?

Well, as he was trying to escape his suffocating classroom full of attention grabbing false admirers, his teacher called him back and asked if he could deliver a stack of files to the first years' teachers' lounge.

But don't get him wrong. Sure the task irked him a little, but that wasn't the reason he was so pissed off. Nor was it all the girls swooning and trying to flirt with him as he walked past.

No.

The reason he was so irritated right now was the fact that he couldn't remember where the office was located.

What? He was human after all.

However, there was no way in _hell_ that Reborn was about to admit to anyone that he had any flaws.

But the problem still remained. If he wasn't going to ask anyone to point out the office for him, then how was he doing to deliver the damn files?

Suddenly and idea popped into Reborn's head.

If he couldn't find the office, then he could just pass the job off onto someone who could.

Reborn smirked, causing all the girls in the hallway to squeal and whisper excitedly to their friends.

But Reborn ignored them in favor of looking for someone suitable enough to push his task onto. He had to find a smaller group so that he wouldn't be surrounded by a gaggle of girls and have to waste extra energy trying to get away.

Reborn rounded another corner and low and behold, a girl was walking slowly all by herself.

Perfect!

"Hey!" Reborn called out and jogged up a little to meet the girl. "Excuse me, but could you do me a favor?" He asked with a pleasant, forced, fake, and soft smile.

"Heh?" The girl stared at the raven, then looked around to see if he was talking to someone else.

Overall, Reborn thought that this girl was really unappealing. Unlike all the other girls in the school, the girl in front of him wore no make-up, her eyes were covered by her ridiculously long bangs, and her clothes were slightly baggy. In fact, it looked like she had no feminine curves at all.

But Reborn continued to smile despite her looks. He needed her to fall for him so that he could shove his work off onto her after all. "Well, I was wondering if you could take these files to the first years' office. I would do it, but I have a lot of work to take care of." Lie! But this girl would never know. Reborn widened his smile a little bit. "So would you please take care of it?"

"Sorry, but I can't," the girl replied bluntly.

It didn't show, but Reborn was in shock. No girl had _ever_ so no to him before. He decided to try a different tactic. "Wow, you're kind of cute."

The girl raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Um…thanks?… Look, I've got to get going."

Double shock. How could this girl not fall for his charms! The girls he passed to get here were turning to mush just by Reborn walking past them! So how could this girl not feel…_anything_! But, this made Reborn smirk. "You're a strange one, aren't you?"

The brunette sighed. "Look, just continue down this hall and it'll be the fourth door on the left down from here, okay?"

Reborn raised an eyebrow this time and offered his own intelligent reply of, "huh?" It's a good thing they were the only two in the hallway.

The girl rolled her eyes. "The office? That's where it's located."

Reborn's eyes widened the tiniest amount. "How did you-"

"You really should have just asked," Tsuna cut the boy off.

"I know where the office was-"

"Everyone forgets stuff sometime," Tsuna continued, interrupting her senior again. "No one can be perfect and that's what makes us human… Well, bye." Tsuna started to walk past, but Reborn caught her wrist.

"You know, you're really interesting." Reborn smirked again, making Tsuna shiver to his delight. She probably was sensing that that smile was a bad omen. "For now on, you're going to be my subordinate."

Tsuna deadpanned. How selfish could you get? "How about not." She tried to pull away, but Reborn held on tight.

"You should be thankful that a member of the Arcobaleno Association is willing to make you their servant."

"Geh! Are you serious?" Tsuna paled a little. This situation was getting from bad to worse in a matter of seconds.

"Nice to see you know about the Arcobaleno." Reborn smirked again. He knew that he had won a big point in winning this argument.

But Tsuna surprised him again by continuing to fight back. "Hiiiiiee! I still don't want to work for you! Now. Let. Me. Go!"

"Too bad! I've taken an interest in you, so you are now my slave!"

"That's against human rights!" Tsuna yelled.

"Okay, then my pet."

"Why does that position keep getting lower?" Tsuna shouted frustrated.

"You can keep me entertained for a long time my new toy!" Reborn said with a mischievous grin, completely ignoring Tsuna's complaint.

"Don't ignore me you bastard! And why did that position drop _again_?"

"Yes, you'll definitely be a lot of fun."

"Don't ignore me you idiot! Dammit! Why is someone I just met doing this to me?"

"We can get to know each other as you work for me."

"Listen to what other people have to say! Don't just decide these things on your own!"

"Come on, let's go." Reborn started pulling the poor girl down the hall.

"Stop ignoring me you jerk!" Tsuna dug her heels into the ground in an effort to not be dragged around, but her feeble attempts were a waste of energy.

"Tsuna?"

The duo turned around to see a blond standing at the hall entrance.

"Yo, idiot blond," Reborn called out half-heartedly. He didn't really like the other male.

Relief washed over Tsuna and she called out to her senior. "Ieyasu-senpai! Please help me!"

The blond frowned. "Reborn, what are you doing with Tsuna?"

"What's it look like? She's my new slave," Reborn replied cheekily.

The blond rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha, very funny. Now release her."

Reborn shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, I have other things to take care of for now anyways. I'll see you later strange girl."

The other two waited for the raven haired boy to disappear through a doorway before they both let out a huff. For Tsuna it was out of relief and the Ieyasu was out of weariness and slight frustration.

"You really should be more careful, Tsuna-chan," the blond said with a warm smile. "How did you even manage to grab his attention?"

"I don't know!" Tsuna huffed exasperatedly. "All I did was tell him where the office was because I didn't want to deliver those files for him."

"Aaah, I see now." The blond chuckled.

Tsuna turned to look at the blond. "Hey, Ieyasu-senpai, what did I do?"

"First, didn't you promise to call me Giotto when others weren't around?" The blond grimaced a little bit. "Really, it's like you don't want to remember that we're childhood friends."

"I-It's not that, Giotto!" Tsuna said quickly. "It's just…"

Giotto smiled again and ruffled the girl's hair. "I know, Tsuna. Come on, I decided I wanted to eat your home cooked meal for dinner today."

"What! You lazy moocher! Go make your own dinner!" Tsuna protested.

But Giotto only laughed and grabbed Tsuna's hand, tugging her toward the dorms.

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><p>Tsuna grumbled darkly under her breathe, but continued to make the dinner anyways.<p>

Giotto laughed again. He knew Tsuna liked to be lazy and not cook if she could avoid it, but it was too much fun to tease her. That and her cooking was just about as good as her mother's.

"You know Tsu-tsu, I know the reason Reborn took an interest in you," Giotto said as her propped an elbow on the counter to support his head.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Excuse me. Reborn?"

"The kid, who was trying to make you his servant earlier," Giotto explained.

"Oh? And what reason is that?" Tsuna asked sourly.

"It's because you were disinterested in him."

"Huh?"

Giotto chuckled a little. "Unlike all the other girls in this school, you didn't fall for him with just one smile."

Tsuna huffed a little as she tossed the contents around in the frying pan. "Why should I fall for some stranger with a single fake smile?"

Giotto shrugged. "Well, most girls do. The same happens to me."

"But at least your smiles tend to be genuine, unless you're not having a good day. That Reborn guy looks like he doesn't smile kindly from the heart too often. Actually, he seems like the type to smirk dangerously a lot."

"Pfft. Smirk dangerously?"

"Yeah, you know. Like when he's thinking of someone else's demise or torturing them, or something."

Giotto broke out into a fit of laughter and nearly fell off his seat.

"What?" Tsuna asked indignantly.

"Nothing, nothing," Giotto assured the girl as he calmed himself. "It's just that, you're the only one I know who could get a good judge of character in one conversation. Reborn is exactly how you pinned him."

Tsuna shivered a little. "I'm going to have to avoid him carefully then."

"Yeah, you are." Giotto went back to his previous position so that he could continue watching Tsuna. He opened his mouth to continue their conversation when the door suddenly slammed open.

"Giotto!"

"Hey there, G." The blond gave the newcomer a short wave.

"You idiot! You skipped out on doing your paperwork _again_!" The red head yelled.

"Ha, ha, ha! Calm down G, I was trying to tell you that Giotto finished, but hid all the papers away so you couldn't find it!" A new voice chimed in.

"That's not any better, and you know it Ugetsu!" G shouted.

"What is this, open house?" Tsuna yelled.

Asari laughed. "Sorry to intrude like this Tsuna-chan."

G cooled down and offered the girl a calmer smile. "Sorry chibi, your idiot brother here just pissed me off."

"Story of your life," Tsuna sighed.

Giotto snorted, resulting in G slapping the back of his head.

"So what are you making?" Asari asked.

"Now I'm making three times as much," Tsuna grumbled.

"Ha, ha! Sorry," the raven said with a bright smile.

"I knew I'd extremely find you guys here," a calm voice said.

Giotto was going to tease Tsuna little bit, but noticed an eyebrow twitching dangerously and her grip on the pot growing tighter. Instead the blond turned toward his red headed friend. "I bet you 10,000 yen that the next person who walks through that door ends up with a frying pan in their face," he whispered behind his hand.

G snorted. "I bet it'll be either a pot or a knife."

"Deal!" The duo shook hands.

"Nufufufu, it seems to be quite rowdy in here."

PANG!

Giotto snickered then turned to G. "You owe me ten thousand yen."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." G rolled his eyes and handed the small wad of cash over.

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><p><strong>So that is the first chapter. How do you like it? Please review and let me know!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2 Lunch Fiascos

**Yay, my power and internet is finally back! I can finally update this story! Thank you everyone for your reviews! It made me so happy! I made sure to answer a few of the questions a few of you had!**

**I'll keep trying to update this on a weekly basis depending on reviews. Thank you everyone and I hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

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><p>Chapter 2 Lunch Fiascos<p>

Tsuna opened up her lunch a little cheerfully. Today had gone pretty well so far. One of the bullies had to stay in their room sick, and that person happened to be the main culprit who usually stole her lunch and/or lunch money. Lunch was the only meal of the day that Tsuna didn't really mind making, otherwise she would go to the VA cafeteria, which was open 24/7 and served a wide variety of different food.

Tsuna munched on her bento, enjoying the food. It wasn't quite as good as her mother's, but considering how long it took for her to learn how to cook and the hours of _pure torture_ her mother put her through to learn that particular ability, it was pretty good.

"Not bad. Never figured you to be good at something as detailed as this."

Tsuna froze with another bite halfway to her mouth. She looked around slowly to see the boy she met the day before eating some of her lunch. "Hiiiiiiiiiee!" Tsuna had her back pressed against the far wall in a flash. "When the heck did you get here?"

"Hey there, strange girl." The boy ignored Tsuna's question. "Or should I call you Dame-Tsuna like everyone else in your year?"

'_Damn. What did Giotto say his name was again?_' Tsuna clicked her tongue. "I'm not really surprised you know about that nickname, but why the hell are you eating my lunch?"

"Because I found out that despite everything else in school you are actually pretty good at cooking. So I decided to try for myself to find out if it was true." Reborn smirked. "Though I must admit, I'm curious why you're failing home economics if you were this good."

"Just shut up," Tsuna snapped. She walked back over and sat back down in her seat "What are you doing here anyways?"

"I said I'd see you later. Besides you're my new servant and I have tasks for you."

Tsuna's grip tightened and the chopsticks snapped in half. "When did I _ever_ agree to that?" She growled.

"Yesterday, when I decided you were intriguing." Reborn smirked humorously.

"Forget it… Tch. Now I've lost my appetite." Tsuna closed her bento and place it back in her bag. "Now would you please leave me alone?"

Reborn ignored the last part. "Good now I won't feel bad for disturbing your lunch!"

"You already did!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"Okay now come on." Reborn grabbed Tsuna's wrist and pulled her out of the classroom.

"Stop ignoring whatever doesn't benefit you, you bastard!" Tsuna yelled. She pulled back with all her might, but Reborn didn't even seem to notice. "Let me go!"

"No chance. I want to have some fun with my new toy before I have to deal with the rest of my duties!"

"I'm not your toy! Now lemme go!"

Reborn dragged her all the way across the school and into the office building between the high school and middle school division. Finally he came to a stop in front of a set of double doors somewhere on the second floor and tossed Tsuna inside, who was unsuccessful at catching herself and fell flat on her face.

"Iit-t-t-t," she mumbled and rubbed her poor chin while sitting up.

"Now, make a cup of espresso for me," Reborn commanded as he flopped onto one of the three nice couches. "No one here seems to be able to make a decent cup."

"Go to hell!" Tsuna shouted. She pushed herself onto her feet and tried to walk out of the room. Suddenly a rope appeared out of nowhere and lassoed Tsuna, and with a tug, she was back on the floor. "For the love of-! Dammit you jerk let me go!"

"Not until I get my drink." Reborn smirked. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, it's your choice."

"_This_ is the easy way?" Tsuna asked incredulously.

But Reborn just smirked.

Tsuna took a deep breath to calm herself down. "If I make your damned cup of espresso, will you finally leave me alone?"

"Depends on how good it is." The black haired boy's eyes twinkled in amusement. He's had fun torturing others before, but for some reason this girl was the most entertaining by far.

Tsuna's eye twitched. "Just one cup and then I'm out of here." She left the room and into the kitchen next door, pointed out so kindly by Reborn (note the sarcasm).

A few seconds after Tsuna left the room, the double doors opened again.

"Yo, kora!" Colonello and Lal walked into the room.

"Hmph, I didn't think you would ever be the first one to arrive for a meeting," Lal said somewhat surprised.

"I have something to keep me entertained today," Reborn replied vaguely.

The door opened again and four people walked in.

"Good morning everyone," Fong said softly, he was the last one to enter.

Mammon, Skull, and Verde just ignored the others and sat down.

Just then Tsuna came out of the kitchen. "He's your god damn coffee, now leave me in peace!" She turned to try and leave the room again, but the rope Reborn was still holding was thrown out and caught her ankle, causing her to trip and fall on her face…again. A long stream of grumbled curses flowed from the brunette before she finally pushed herself onto her rear. "Why the hell did you trip me again you bastard?"

"I told you, you could only leave if I find the espresso you made satisfactory." Reborn smirked. "And I don't find this one quite up to par." This was a complete lie on his part. He was actually enjoying the drink he made Tsuna make for him, but this also meant that he had to make sure she stuck around or he wouldn't get another decent cup of this beverage for a while.

"So in other words, you plan on never leaving me alone, is that it?" Tsuna hissed her eyebrow twitching.

"Reborn, who is this?" Lal asked.

Colonello nodded. "Yeah! and why are you harassing her, kora!"

Reborn grinned again. "This is my new toy."

"I am _not_ your toy!" Tsuna yelled. '_I'm not allowed to kill. I'm not allowed to kill. I'm not allowed to kill. I'm not allowed to kill._'

Reborn slapped Tsuna upside the head. "You're way too weak to even land a single hit, let alone kill, Dame-Tsuna. And no, I can't read minds. You just happened to be easier to read than a preschool level book."

The bell rang signaling that lunch was over.

"Ah! You've made me late for class!" Tsuna tried to run out of the room, but was held back by Reborn yet again as he caught her arm.

"Then it looks like you'll just have to stay." Reborn smiled. This girl was just too much fun.

"I've known you for about five minutes and I'm already pushing my limit, so _what_ makes you think I'm going to be able to survive anything longer than that?" Tsuna asked scathingly.

"This will be good endurance training for your tolerance," Reborn replied cheekily. "In any case, introduce yourself to everyone Dame-Tsuna."

"Go to hell." Tsuna turned her back to the whole group and restarted her efforts to leave.

Reborn reached over and pinched her cheek. "Don't you know how to be polite, Dame-Tsuna."

"One of you is bad enough. I'll really go and kill myself if I have to deal with seven," Tsuna retorted as she rubbed her cheek to sooth the pain.

"You don't have to worry about that dear. No one else acts _exactly_ like Reborn." Luce sat down in her chair, having entered the room unnoticed by everyone but Tsuna. "In any case, my name is Luce. It's very nice to meet you."

"Ni hao. I'm Fong. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I am the great Skull-sama, you better respect-"

Colonello threw a pillow into Skull's face. "I'm Colonello, kora. I commend you for putting up with Reborn for even this long."

Lal slapped the back of Colonello's head. "Lal Mirch."

"You can call me Mammon, I suppose."

"Tch. It's Verde, and can we get this meeting over with already."

"And I'm Reborn."

"Pfft!" Even though Giotto had told her the boy's name already, Tsuna just realized that she found the name hilarious.

Reborn pulled Tsuna down into a headlock and twisted his fist into her head. "Don't laugh you little-"

But this only seemed to push Tsuna's laughter out even louder. "Ow, ow, ow! I give! I give! I give!" But her pleads didn't sound very convincing with the smile still plastered on her face and a few giggles still slipping through.

"You mean, you've been talking with this girl without telling her your name even once, kora!" Colonello asked, cocking an eyebrow as he watched Reborn release the mystery girl.

Reborn just shrugged. "I didn't get the chance. That idiot president got in the way."

"Giotto isn't an idiot," Tsuna reprimanded while rubbing her head and neck, but then hesitated for a second. "Okay, he can be a bit of an idiot. But you shouldn't talk about him like that."

Reborn cocked an eyebrow. "You better not be calling _me_ an idiot."

Tsuna snorted. "I think a lot of people are idiots."

Reborn raised his eyebrow even further, but decided to let it go this once. "Speaking of the idiot president. What's your connection to him? I've heard a rumor that you two were actually brother and sister."

"Eh?" Tsuna scrunched up her face. "Well I guess you could say he's my brother. But were not blood related. Ieyasu-senpai and I grew up together, so it's more like were childhood friends."

"Yet, no one in this school knows your relationship?" Reborn asked skeptically. "With his reputation, he could easily get people to back off from teasing you."

"That isn't very kind of him," Luce agreed.

Tsuna shrugged. "Then that's my fault. I told Giotto I don't want anyone to know about relationship at this school."

"And yet you told us?" Reborn stared at the girl, trying to hide his smirk.

"Ack!" Tsuna froze. "Please don't tell anyone!"

Reborn's smile turned absolutely predatory. "Then you'll have to be my new servant."

"Gah!" Tsuna froze up again. The eight others in the room could see that the girl was weighing her options. "Dammit all!"

The doors opened up again.

"What are you doing?" A calm voice asked.

"I thought I heard- chibi!" G started.

"G!" Tsuna called out and ran over. "Get me out of here pleeeaaaasse! I can't take anymore! And why didn't you tell me that he was such a demon! I would have tried running away the moment he showed up!"

Reborn snorted. "Like you would have been able to get that far."

G narrowed his eyes. "Reborn, leave Tsuna alone. I believe Pres has already been over this with you."

"And I'm sure you already realized that I've never listened to anything that idiot blonde had to say," Reborn replied coolly.

"Come on, Tsuna," Asari muttered quietly to the brunette. "We don't want to be around when G blows his top."

Tsuna nodded and snuck out of the room behind Asari, and not a moment too soon. When the duo were just a few yards from the doorway, the room practically exploded. "The sounds of G yelling at the top of his voice were accompanied by the sounds of an all-out brawl."

Asari laughed. "So what were you doing in the Arcobaleno Association's meeting room?"

"That jerk, Reborn, dragged me there so that I could make him a cup of coffee," Tsuna grumbled. Still feeling peeved about the whole thing.

"Well, now you can let G take care of it," Asari said cheerfully. "And I'm sure Giotto will talk to the Arcobaleno about bothering you later as well."

Tsuna smiled a little. "Thanks Asari-san. If you want, I can cook dinner for you three today as thanks."

"Really? Then we'll take you up on that offer! We all love eating you cooking!" Asari smiled brightly.

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><p>Tsuna walk out of the classroom the next day, intending to go to the cafeteria. It was starting out like a good day again, since the bully was still out sick, the sun was shining, and that Reborn person was supposed to leave her alone for now on.<p>

"Not, quite Dame-Tsuna."

"Hiiiiiie!" Tsuna whirled around to see Reborn leaning against the window sill she had just passed. "What the-! What are _you_ doing here?"

"I told you I don't listen to the Student Council already didn't I?" Reborn smirked and pushed himself away from the wall. "Now come on, I have tasks for you."

Tsuna didn't bother answering. Instead she chose to make a run for it. When she looked behind her, it didn't look like Reborn was giving chase, but to be safe she ran out of the school and into the tree garden. She pulled herself into her favorite tree, and hiding spot, and leaned against the trunk, panting hard.

"For someone who's failing gym, you sure run fast."

"Hiiiiie!" Tsuna was about to fall, but a hand shot out and pulled her into someone's lap.

Reborn smirked. "You're also known to be a huge klutz, but this the only time you've truly been clumsy is when you're surprised."

Tsuna ignored the boy's observation in favor of trying to climb away from the boy to sit on her own. "How the hell did you get here first? I'm sure that this place being my favorite hiding spot was a secret to everyone else, or the bullies would have been able to find every time."

"I know everything Dame-Tsuna. And for the things I don't…well, I have my sources."

"Erg! What do you want? Can't you see that I want you to leave me alone?" Tsuna continued to struggle, but she couldn't get out of Reborn's grip.

Reborn continued to smirk at her efforts. "And that's why I'm not going to leave you alone."

Tsuna sighed and finally gave. "So if I act like I like you, will you leave me alone?"

"Not a chance," Reborn said with a smile. "You're just too interesting."

He couldn't understand why this girl could sit on his lap and not react at all. Sure she was blushing a little, but most girls would extremely happy as well as either turn bright red and be a little jumpy, or lean into his touch and get comfortable there. This girl was doing neither. She was sitting as far away as his hold would let her, and didn't seem to be affected by his close proximity.

Reborn pulled Tsuna even closer so that they were pressed together and placed his chin to rest on her shoulder.

Tsuna grumbled incoherently for a little. "Hey, would you knock it off! Your making me warmer than I care to be, your head is heavy, and your breath is tickling me."

Reborn chuckled. This girl was irrefutably different and there seemed to be a lot of interesting mysteries floating around her as well. Yes. He would make sure she stuck around. After all, he had only known her for three days and school had already gotten a lot more interesting. Reborn was sure that it would get more eventful if Tsuna was around even longer.

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><p><strong>So how was it? By the way, when either chapter four or five go up, there will be a poll for this stories pairing. So think about who you want Tsuna to be paired with. The options I have right now is between Giotto and Reborn. So think about it carefully. You might want to wait till you see the relationships first though, but it's something to think about!<strong>

**Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3 Hide and Go Seek Vongola Style

**Lookie! Lookie! I finished early! This is as thanks for the 35 reviews! I just felt really inspired and BAM! This came together! That and I skipped out on my history paper.**

****Thank you so much to those who reviewed! I decided that I would just say thanks in my A/N and answer any questions at the end. This is also because a few of my reviewers don't have accounts or aren't signed in.****

**Anyways, I hope this meets your expectations! And as promised, this chapter shows the other relationship development, it may even change your minds. ;)**

**Well, please review and tell me your thoughts! **

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><p>Chapter 3 Hide-and-Go-Seek Vongola Style<p>

It was lunch break at the Academy and Giotto was working on some important paperwork concerning the upcoming festival when suddenly the door to the office was slammed open.

He jumped a little and looked up.

"Hi there Giotto, nice day isn't it? Oh look you're doing work. Don't mind me! In fact pretend I never came in! Okay? Good!" Tsuna said quickly, without giving the other any time to answer her questions, as she walked over to the closet and ducked inside.

"Ah…" Giotto was at a loss for words. "Um…Should I be concerned about something?..."

Tsuna opened the door a crack. "Shhhhh! I was _never_ here, you got that!" She slid the door shut again.

Giotto sat there in silence for a few more seconds, still in shock, and he was about to question the girl about her behavior when the door to the office was opened up again.

"Hi there, Ieyasu-kun!" Luce said excitedly.

'_Why is everyone slamming my door open today? I'm going to have to get the wall and the door repaired at this rate,_' the blonde grumbled to himself as he remembered G, Knuckles, Lampo, and Alaude entering the same way earlier that day. But he still smiled and greeted the girl kindly. "So what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Luce-san?"

"Oh! You don't have to use honorifics! Just call me Luce! And I came here because I thought Tsuna-chan might have run in here!" Luce said with a cheery smile.

"Ah…" Giotto said, once again at a loss for words. "And why are you looking for Tsuna-chan?"

"Well Reborn proposed a game of Hide-and-Go-Seek Vongola Academy style!" Luce proclaimed.

An eyebrow quirked a little as Giotto took this information in. "I see…And I assume that Tsuna-chan is 'it', correct?"

"Yes!" Luce clapped her hands together. "And Reborn said he'd give the winner whatever they wanted if they won! We're playing the extended version! So whoever has her when eight o' clock rolls around, wins!"

Giotto nodded slowly. "I…see… Who else is playing?"

"Just the eight of us. I thought it would be more fun if we included all of you from the Student Council as well, but Reborn was against it." Luce placed a finger on her chin as she thought.

"Damn you, Reborn," Giotto muttered as he curled a hand into a fist. A vein had popped on his temple and his eyebrow was twitching dangerously.

"Well if you see Tsuna-chan, please let me know! I have big plans for Reborn! Bye!" The girl turned around and walked back out of the office.

Giotto sighed. "It's safe to come out now."

Tsuna sighed in relief before she opened the door. "Giotto, help me get out of this mess!"

Giotto sighed again. "I thought I told you to avoid him."

"I did, but he won't leave me alone!" Tsuna threw her hands up into the air. "Then today I snuck out of class right before lunch break and _this_ happened!"

Giotto hummed a little as he thought about what to do. "I know! Let's go to the town!"

"Huh? Are we allowed? There's still school left…" Tsuna looked a little uneasy.

But Giotto just smiled. "Well it's the weekend tomorrow and I'm in the Student Council."

Tsuna grimaced. "You're abusing your position," she said disapprovingly.

"Would you rather stay here and wait for Reborn to find you?"

Tsuna shivered a little.

"I thought so. So come on! Let's go!" Giotto reached out and grasped one of Tsuna's hands, pulling her out of the room after making sure the coast was clear.

* * *

><p>After a lot of ducking around corners, the two were finally able to make it to the school's private cars. Giotto held up his badge to the clerk, though it was unneeded as the woman had already sent for someone, and a driver came out.<p>

Vongola Academy was actually a large complex made up of four different school divisions, a few offices, dorms, restaurants, a hospital, and a small town. There was even a forest and a lake.

The town was about a fifteen minute drive and there were usually buses going back and forth after school hours and on the weekend. Those with high enough positions in school were able to use the private drivers. This group consisted of the staff, Student Council, and Arcobaleno association. But most of the time the staff didn't go to town and when they did, most of them were fine enough with using the busses.

When Giotto and Tsuna arrived at town, they weren't very surprised to see it so empty. A few business people, or people with a lot of wealthy or were influential in the world, were allowed in to buy Vongola brand items and were milling around. Guards were keeping a close eye on these people to make sure none of them tried to go up to the rest of the school.

Tsuna and Giotto laughed as they thought about the members of the Arcobaleno Association running around the main campus, and maybe even the forests, as they searched for her. The two then switched to talking about where they should go first, and if they had anything they needed to buy while they were at it.

They went to the arcade and played different games. Then went around through the different clothing shops, trying on ridiculous clothes and making fun of new trends. After that they went to the other little shops and corner stores, looking through the trinkets and different little knickknacks.

Giotto looked around and bought matching rings for them. Tsuna smiled and pulled hers onto her middle finger, the blond mimicking her actions. The brunette hugged the boy as thanks, then grabbed his hand and pulled him to the next store, which happened to be the candy shop, where they bought sweets to take back with them or to munch on while they continued to walk around. Eventually their endeavors brought them into the cake shop.

"Today was a lot of fun," Tsuna said with a smile, after the blushing and stuttering waitress went off with their order.

"It's been a long time since we did anything like this," Giotto agreed.

"About two years," Tsuna said quietly, dropping her joyful attitude. "I'm sorry about that…"

"Hey, don't worry about it. We got to hang out today, just like old times and that's what counts." Giotto grinned, showing all of his pearly whites.

Overall, his smile looked extremely ridiculous, causing Tsuna to break out into a fit of giggles. "You look like an idiot when you do that."

Giotto scrunched up his nose and flicked Tsuna's nose lightly.

"That face isn't helping you either!" Tsuna managed through another round of giggles.

The blonde huffed a little, blowing a few of his bangs out of his face, and pinched the brunette's cheek, but then smiled. "So I can assume you enjoyed our time together today, right?"

Tsuna smiled in return. "Naturally."

The two nodded to the waitress who had placed their drinks down on the table.

Tsuna blew on her milk tea a little before taking a cautious sip. She turned her gaze out the window for a bit. "We should probably head back soon. Since today is the last day of school for this week, I'm sure there will be plenty of students coming over. I don't want any of them giving you trouble for being around me. Maybe I should take the bus back."

Giotto, who was taking a sip of his coffee, frowned. "Tsu-chan, they're not going to bother me. I like having you around, you know. And _no_, you are not taking the bus back. You're coming back with me."

"My, my Gio -_kun_. You're being rather demanding today, aren't you," Tsuna smirked teasingly.

Giotto rolled his eyes and ruffled Tsuna's hair, carefully making sure to avoid her bangs. He smirked when the other pouted from his messing her hair up. "I don't see why you don't want others to know that we're childhood friends. They might even be nicer to you."

They thanked the waitress as she dropped off their cakes.

Tsuna shook her head. "Or they could be meaner to the both of us. Besides, I don't like attention, and as of right now I don't get a lot." She took a bite and savored the flavor of her strawberry cake.

"I still think I could protect you better if you let everyone else know," Giotto countered before he took a bite.

Tsuna shrugged. "I'm not willing to take that chance." She reached over and stole Giotto's fork before it could reach his mouth for a second bite.

"Hey!" the blond protested as he watched the younger teenager eat a bite of his cake. He blushed a little from the indirect kiss, but Tsuna was oblivious as always and didn't notice.

"Hmm, mocha isn't too bad, but I like plain chocolate more." Tsuna handed the fork back and picked up her own. She scooped up a bite of her cake and held out her fork. "Here, you can have a bite as fair trade. Huh? Giotto do you have a fever or something?"

'_Too oblivious, too naïve!...But…_' Giotto smiled a little as he watched Tsuna start to panic. He leaned forward and at the offered piece of cake, much to Tsuna's embarrassment. '_That's what makes her so much cuter._'

Tsuna smiled despite the pink that dusted her cheeks from her blond friend's actions.

"Not bad," Giotto commented. "Maybe I should get this flavor next time."

"Then I'll get chocolate! And we can split!" Tsuna cheered.

"Oh? So you're willing to sneak out of school with me again?" Giotto smiled mischievously.

"Ah!" Tsuna stiffened a little as she realized how her words were interpreted.

"Or, if you don't want to skip class, we could go out on the weekend, for all to see." He could almost see Tsuna sweating as she weighed the two choices.

Both of them had their bad sides in Tsuna's opinions. But now that she remembered how much fun it was to go out with her childhood friend and older brother figure, she really wanted to go out again. "Maybe… on a school night… when we don't… have too much… homework," Tsuna said slowly and begrudgingly.

Giotto smiled. "Alright, it's a date."

Tsuna blushed a little, but didn't argue. She just thought that Giotto was teasing her.

The two finished their cakes and drinks, talking about random subjects, then paid and started heading back.

"So what do you want for dinner tonight?" Tsuna asked as she unlocked her door. Seeing as the blonde had followed her back to her room, there was no doubt in her mind that he was staying over for the rest of the day.

"How about something Italian," Giotto replied with a wide smile.

Tsuna sighed. "You really like making things difficult for me, don't- _Reborn_!"

"Yo, Dame-Tsuna," the raven haired boy called calmly from his laidback position on the couch.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Tsuna demanded.

Giotto sighed. "Reborn, this is considered a 'breaking and entering' you know."

"Idiot blond," the other boy replied as an acknowledgment, completely ignoring the other's warning. "And I'm here so that I can win, or did you forget, Dame-Tsuna."

"Erk." Tsuna _had_ actually forgotten. But there was no way that she was going to admit it. Though, Reborn's smirk told her she didn't have to. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Just get out, would you!"

"Keep trying, I may listen," Reborn replied sarcastically. He smirked as Tsuna fumed. "Going back to your previous subject, are you actually able to make a decent dish of Italian cuisine? All your Japanese feed I get, as that's your heritage and all, but Italian too?"

Tsuna huffed indignantly. "Giotto's Italian and his mother came over and taught me when she found out my mom was teaching me how to cook."

"Yeah, that's one scary day I'd rather forget," Giotto added as he remembered how ferocious his mother became that day. "Sorry about that again, Tsu-chan. I tried to stop her, but you know she can get."

Tsuna shuddered from the memory. Having two women bent on teaching her the arts of cooking was one of the scariest moments of her life, but at least something good did come of it. "You should really stop apologizing about that. I don't blame you at all. She found out through my mom anyways, so it's not like you spilled my secret."

"Yeah, but still…maybe if I had picked up the phone that day and said my mom was out…" The blonde tried to supply and excuse.

Tsuna shook her head. "Nah, there was nothing. My mom was on a rampage, I'm sure she might have gone into town or something just to locate your mom if she needed too."

The two sweat dropped as they realized the truth of Tsuna's words.

Reborn, getting tired of being ignored, decided to butt in again. "Well then, I'll be staying over to try out how well you learned."

"What! No way you freeloader! Get out!" Tsuna shouted.

But Reborn only smirked and got himself more comfortable.

Tsuna ground her teeth angrily, but went to the kitchen. '_Maybe I can poison his portion_,' she thought sadistically.

"And just to let you know, I'm immune to nearly all poisons, including all household toxins," Reborn called from the couch.

"Tsuna! Put down the cutlery!" Giotto shouted as he dove for the knife in Tsuna's hand.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope this got out a few giggles and squeals! So how was it? Did you like it?<strong>

**Now for questions.**

**10th Squad 3rd Seat: (Chapter 1 review) Reborn isn't necessarily a playboy, but I'm not going to say he isn't either. And yes! Giotto and Tsuna are childhood friends, though Giotto is looking for something more now... (Chapter 2 review) The tenth gen will come into play later. There's a reason Tsuna ended up at VA, but you're going have to wait until then to see! Daemon came into play in chapter one, but all of the first gen will have their time as well. Though I can say that Lampo and Alaude joined the others for that dinner after Tsuna had calmed down. But you'll definitely see more of the first gen in chapters to come!**

**And for everyone who wrote so many kind reviews, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! XD I'm so happy that so many of you took interest in this story, and even happier that I got a couple of you to like a story with stuff you usually don't read! I hope you continue to like this story!**

**Thanks again everyone! Including those who added this story to their favorites and alerts!**


	4. Chapter 4 Fishing for Tsuna

**I'm so sorry for the late update, but school was being a *&*^!#%*&% and a lot of other angry gibberish. At least this chapter is finally out. Hopefully I'll be able to make weekly updates again. To try to make up for it I made this chapter a little longer! I hope you like it!**

**Please review and tell me what you thought!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4 Fishing for Tsuna<p>

Because he had remained in her apartment till eight o' clock rolled around, Reborn was declared the winner of the game. And since Tsuna had technically been a participant, no matter how unwilling, she was subject to do anything Reborn desired.

And what did the sadistic man want? Well…

* * *

><p>"Giiiiiiiooooooottooooooo heeeeeeeeeellp!"<p>

All seven members of the student council looked up from their meeting when they heard the shout. But before they could make a move to investigate who was calling for their president's help, the door was slowly pushed open. However, only a pair of hands, gripping the doorframe with all their might, was seen. The person readjusted their grip and gradually pulled themselves into view.

"Tsuna!" Giotto ran forward and tried to assess what the problem was. It seemed that the girl was being pulled by an invisible force by her waist.

"Giotto, please cut it!" Tsuna begged.

"Cut what?" The blond asked. He couldn't figure out what was going on or how to help his dearest friend.

A pair of scissors whizzed past the blonde's ear and cut the fishing wire that was looped around Tsuna's waist. And not expecting the line to be cut, Tsuna was propelled into the room and crashed onto her stomach. "It-t-t-t…Thanks Alaude-san."

"Hn." The blond lowered his hand and crossed his arms once more.

Giotto reached down and helped Tsuna to her feet. "Tsuna, what's going on? Don't you usually stay in your room on the weekends?"

"Usually, but this morning that demon barged into my room, kicked me out of bed, and demanded that I go fishing with him," Tsuna explained as she rubbed the spot where the fishing line had dug into her skin. "Only, he didn't want to go fishing in the lake. Instead I was the prey."

Giotto was torn between being extremely pissed off and tremendously exasperated. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "So that leads to you coming here. But where is Reborn?"

Tsuna shook her head. "The moment I saw that sadistic gleam in his eyes I ran for it-" Tsuna's feet were pulled out from under her, resulting in her face meeting the ground at a rapid and painful speed, which was quickly followed by her being dragged out of the room. "Aaaaaah! What the hell! Why does this keep happening to me?" Tsuna yelled as she clawed at the ground. "This is just like one of those horror movies! And I'm the victim! I don't wanna diiiiie!"

With expert precision, a letter opener cut the unseen fishing line around the brunette's ankle and imbedded into the floor before she could be dragged completely out of the room.

"Thank you again, Alaude-san," Tsuna mumbled, though it was a little difficult to hear as she was speaking into the flooring.

Giotto squatted down in front of his childhood friend as she sat up. "The most bizarre things go through your mind at the weirdest times, you know that?" He poked her forehead.

Tsuna blushed. "Shut up! You try running away from a demon and see how _you_ handle it! How'd he get into my room anyway?"

"Good question," G agreed. He turned toward the disciplinary officer. "Do you have any idea?"

"These locks are basic. Anyone skilled enough and with the right tools could get in," Alaude answered without looking up.

"No way!" Tsuna clutched the sides of her face. "You mean there's no way for me to keep that demon out? My life is over!" Tsuna flopped back down the floor dramatically.

Giotto poked the girl's head. "Should I pray for you? Or are you planning to become a ghost and haunt the kid?"

G picked up a book and chucked it at his friend's head. "Don't encourage the over dramatic you idiot."

Tsuna gasped and sat up suddenly, making Giotto fall back in shock. "I know! Giotto can I spend a few nights in your room?"

Red bloomed over the blonde's face and he seemed to lose all of his communication abilities. The other males in the room blushed at the implications as well.

G coughed in an attempt to get their minds straight. "Tsuna, do you even understand what that would look like to others?"

The brunette frowned. "You're right. Everyone would find out that Giotto and I knew each other."

The others nearly fell over from Tsuna's obliviousness. They couldn't help but pity their poor leader.

Tsuna, ignorant to their distress, glanced back up at the group. "So what should I do- Aaaaaaaahhhh!"

The boys' heads snapped up just in time to see Tsuna flying out the window.

Giotto whipped around to the lighter blond. "Why didn't you cut the wire?"

Alaude just stared at the other and raised an eyebrow.

Giotto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I got it. You ran out of sharp objects." He sighed again. "Come on, let's go find Tsuna before that guy traumatizes her _too_ badly."

* * *

><p>Tsuna screamed as she was pulled up all the way to the roof. She fell with a painful thud as she was yanked over the safety gate, then pulled across the concrete and over to the water tank. With one last tug, she was left dangling in front of a smug Reborn.<p>

"You're an ass, you know that?" Tsuna panted as she swung back and forth in a slow circle.

Reborn smirked. "You weren't able to cut as many wires as I thought you would, but this still was a lot of fun."

A vein popped on Tsuna's temple. "Fun? You think this is _fun_? Dammit! I'll kill you!"

She thrashed in a poor attempt to swing herself forward so that she could claw the other's eyes out. But Reborn just released his hold on the line and let his prey fall onto the ground below. Then he reeled the line in again so that Tsuna was once again dangling in front of him.

"That hurt you jerk!" She yelled, only to be dropped once again. "Knock it off you demon! Oof! I said quit it-! Arg! Stupid demon! Go back to your demon world! Gack!"

"Had enough?" The black haired boy asked smugly as he watched the girl panting in front of him.

Tsuna looked up and glared at the teen wearily. "I…hate…you." She then passed out.

Reborn smirked once again and tossed the girl over his shoulder and sauntered off the roof, heading out of the high school division and heading toward the office building. He briefly considered how lucky it was that this strange girl preferred pants, since he didn't have to worry about holding her skirt down and seeming like a pervert.

"About time, kora!" Colonello bellowed as Reborn entered the room. "What took you so long, kora!"

"My pet tried to run away again," Reborn answered simply.

"Oh dear. You weren't too rough with her were you?" Luce asked worriedly.

Lal snorted. "Knowing him, he probably dropped her off the roof of the high school division as punishment."

Reborn just smirked and lowered Tsuna down onto one of the empty couches.

"10,000 yen says that he dropped her from the water tower to the roof," Mammon piped up.

Reborn twitched.

"I say he threw her out one of the windows, kora," Colonello pitched in.

Reborn twitched again.

"I bet that Reborn kicked her out of her room and forced her into one of his games!" Luce exclaimed.

Verde smirked and pushed up his glasses. "I'll put in a bet that he chased her all the way to the high school division."

Another twitch.

"Hmph. Then my bet will be that he dropped her several times," Lal added.

"I bet he threw her in the lake," Skull piped.

The blond looked around to their Chinese friend. "What about you Fon? Kora! You in?"

Fon just smiled serenely. "I'm not going to take part in this one."

"Suit yourself, kora."

"So who was right?" Luce asked excitedly.

"Nearly everyone but Skull was right, but Colonello was only partially right," Reborn answered reluctantly.

Mammon smirked. "Pay up you two."

Colonello and Skull grumbled as they reached for their wallets and pulled out the wad of bills.

They all looked over as Tsuna groaned and reached for her head. "Damn…I feel like I've been mauled by Frankenstein's steroid induced German sister."

"Pfft! That's some description, kora."

The others cracked up as well, though Skull was the only one rolling on the floor. The others chuckled, but maintained their stiff attitude.

Tsuna's initial reaction of embarrassment subsided as she realized who else was in the room with her. She face palmed. "For the love of-! Why'd you have to bring me here of all places? In fact, why do you even bother wasting your time with me?"

"You're fun to tease. Simple as that," Reborn replied.

Tsuna was so angered by his response that she couldn't even voice her thoughts. Instead she just grabbed fistfuls of her hair and growled incoherent words through her teeth. With a deep breath she forced herself to calm down and reached for her phone, only to find it missing. "The hell…I had it when I left the room…Ah!" She looked up to see Reborn dangling her cellular device a few feet in front of her. "Hey! That's mine!" Tsuna dove for the device.

Reborn backed just far enough so that Tsuna's finger just barely brushed her phone. "Nuh-uh uh. I don't think so."

"Give it back you demon!" Tsuna yelled.

They both froze as the phone started to vibrate.

Reborn smiled wolfishly, making Tsuna pale and renew her efforts to retrieve her cell. Reborn merely placed a hand on the girl's forehead to hold her back and answered.

"Tsu-chan? Thank goodness," Giotto's voice said with relief. "Where are you know?"

"Dame-Tsuna is with me," Reborn replied.

"Giotto! He took me to the-!" Tsuna's voice was muffled by Reborn's hand as he used her momentum to swing her around so that her back was pressed against his chest, still making sure to keep a firm hold around her mouth.

"Reborn, let Tsuna go," Giotto growled.

"Sorry, my little servant still has work that needs to be done," Reborn sang teasingly.

"Reborn-" Giotto started, but was cut off as the other hung up.

Reborn pocketed the device and turned to the other members of his group. "So are we going or what?"

Luce smiled and nodded. "Yes, we need to get going or we might miss our opportunity. I trust you can look after Tsuna-chan while taking care of your portion?" She directed the question at Reborn.

The raven haired boy scoffed at the woman. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

Luce nodded and motioned for everyone to leave.

Tsuna finally managed to pry Reborn's hand off her and took a couple of deep breaths from the lack of air. "Going? What do you mean going? I'm not going anywhere with you!"

Reborn completely ignored the girl and started to drag her out of the room by her wrist.

"Hey! Lemme go!" Tsuna dug in her heels, but like the last time it made no difference to the boy. Tsuna yelled, protested, and struggled all the way to the outer wall surrounding the entire school. "Hiiiie! Stop! Stop! Stop! Reborn, normal students aren't allowed to come this close to the gate!" Tsuna hissed.

"You have to remember dear that the Arcobaleno Association isn't made up or normal students." Luce, who had been walking next to Reborn, smiled and looked around at the brunette. "Tsuna-chan, do you know the purpose of the Arcobaleno Association?"

Tsuna shook her head. She eyed the gate and prayed that they weren't going to step outside the school boundaries, though it was in vain.

Reborn scoffed again. "You mean you have connections with the Student Council and you don't know?"

Tsuna glared at the teen.

"While the Student Council is supposed to protect the students from the inside, the Arcobaleno Association protects the students from the outside," Luce explained.

"Hah?" Was Tsuna's intelligent response.

"What that means is that we protect the ungrateful brats attending this school from all the outside threats you dolt," Reborn clarified.

Luce nodded in agreement. "The majority of the students attending this school are brought here for protection, whether it be because they come from rich families or if they have ties to the mafia. Because of that, there are always a large number of people trying to break in and kidnap the students. The Arcobaleno are here to prevent this from happening. Or if the kidnap is successful, then we go out to bring back the student(s)."

The image of Reborn in different superhero costumes passed through Tsuna's mind. She clamped her free hand against her mouth in an attempt to stifle them, but she couldn't help but shake from force. And Reborn, sensing what was going through his prisoner's mind, slapped her upside the head, knocking the laughter right out of the girl.

"So if you have this all important job, then why are you allowing the moron to bring me along for the ride?" Tsuna asked as she rubbed the spot Reborn had hit her.

"Because it would be too troublesome to track you down later and it would be easy enough to get my job done while also keeping an eye on you," Reborn replied.

"Stupid, irresponsible Reborn. Dragging a normal helpless student on his dangerous job," Tsuna grumbled under her breath, though she did a 180 when she saw the boy start raising his hand to whack her again. "Just kidding!" She resolved to scowl at everything in the opposite direction instead.

"We're here," Lal called back in a muted voice.

'_You're kidding me. A warehouse? How cliché can you get?_' Tsuna thought sarcastically. She was now walking closer to Reborn, clinging to his shirt sleeve with her free hand. She kept quiet as the group snuck inside from different areas, Reborn and herself going through the backdoor. She rolled her eyes and nearly sighed in exasperation. '_Really? _Really?_ An underground hideout inside a warehouse? Really? How stupid could you get?_'

"Cliché, but they all do it anyway," Reborn muttered, but he smirked at the girl's attitude. Though he was a little curious as to why she wasn't scared stiff. There was the potential that they could all be shot, stabbed, or some other gruesome method to death, but Tsuna was taking all of this rather calmly. Even when Luce had told her that some of the students had ties to the mafia, Tsuna hadn't even batted an eye. He was going to have to find out more about this strange girl.

The group snuck below and waited by the main opening. Scouting the area and taking in the number of the enemy as well as their weapons. In the farthest corner from the group they could see a small group of kids all huddled together. There were about six and they all appeared to be from the younger section of the elementary division. Every single one of them was shaking from fright.

The sight made Tsuna's blood boil. How dare they harm children so much younger than them! Were they that pitiful that they got it off from terrorizing kids not even half as tall as them! She looked down at her wrist when Reborn gave it a squeeze. At first she thought that Reborn had misinterpreted her shaking for fear and squeezed her wrist as s sign of comfort, but then knowing the teen he was probably telling her to calm down.

"Hey Boss! What are we going to do with these brats?" Ugly subordinate number one asked.

The boss appeared to be the brute sitting closest to the kids with his feet propped up on the desk. "I told you already that we're waiting for the damn traders to get here."

"So irritating," ugly subordinate number two growled. "I can't believe that all five of these snot nose brats don't have any ties to rich families. It was such a pain to get them out and it was all for nothing."

Ugly subordinates number three through seventeen nodded in agreement.

"Just pipe down! We'll still be able to get a profit from selling all of them, so shut up." One of the kids whimpered and the boss' eyes zeroed in. "What? You scared? Do you want your mommy?" The man taunted. He pulled out a knife to the kids' horror. "Maybe I should make you all pretty for my nice slave trader friend?"

BAM!

Everyone could only stare in shock. A girl had kicked their boss and was now standing over him.

"Are you so weak that you have to hurt children, not even half your height, in order to feel strong?" Tsuna asked in a cold and condescending tone. She sneered at the man. "Pathetic trash."

The synapsis in the subordinates' brain started to start functioning again and the nearest two dove for the girl. The first one had his punch dodged and received a painful elbow jab to his stomach followed by a knee to the groin, leaving him groveling on the floor. The second one had his punch caught, and the brunette used his momentum against him by flipping him over her shoulder and into the wall with a sickening crack. One of them men pulled out a gun and started to fire, but Tsuna flipped the desk onto its side and in front of her, then kicked it so that it flew into the gunman and knocked him over, successfully taking out two others with him.

"What? Is that all you've got? You're even more worthless than I originally thought," Tsuna jeered. She turned away, somehow knowing that the Arcobaleno would take care of the rest. She crouched down a short distance from the children and smiled a little. "Hi there, are you alright?"

The children shrank back a little, still fearful that the girl in front of them might be another bad guy.

Tsuna smiled sadly. She knew that fear and mistrust. "It's okay, I won't do anything unless you want me to. I'm from Vongola Academy too. My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, but you can call me Tsuna. I promise that we won't let anything else bad happen to you. When you're ready, we can all go back to the school together, okay?" She shifted so that she was now kneeling in front of them, trying to show them that she would wait patiently.

At first, the kids just sat and stared at the girl in front of them. But slowly the moved and one by one, they stumbled over and embraced the girl, breaking into tears of relief. Tsuna hugged them all and ignored the fact that her shirt was becoming soaked. When they calmed down the other teenagers walked forward and introduced themselves. Then Luce took the hands of two, while Colonello threw one up to sit on his shoulders, leaving the other three to cling onto Tsuna. The brunette picked up the smallest one and held hands with the little girl while the boy clung to her skirt, following the group out of the horrible shack of a storage building.

"Who knew you would be so great with kids, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn chortled.

"Shut up. I'm not a demon like you," the brunette countered.

Reborn smirked. "I don't know, you looked pretty demonic when you took down all those thugs."

"Nee-chan is an awesome fighter!" The small child in Tsuna's arms cheered. She smiled brightly and hugged her new found older sister figure.

"Tsuna-nee is really strong!" The young boy clutching the brunette's skirt agreed.

The girl holding Tsuna's hand smiled and reached up to hold Reborn's hand as well. "All nine of you were awesome! I want to be just like you guys."

Reborn smiled a little at the girl before letting his smirk return when he looked back up at Tsuna. "So not only are you a good cook who is failing home Ec. but you're a pretty good fighter failing gym. Care to elaborate."

"Care to let me kick you face in?" Tsuna bit back. But her threat didn't affect the boy.

When the group finally got back to the school and over to the elementary school division, the kids thanked the members of the Arcobaleno and ran over for one last hug from Tsuna.

"Tsuna-nee you have to promise to visit us tomorrow!" One of the children begged. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, yeah!" The boy who had been clutching her skirt called out. "And you have to bring your boyfriend too!"

Tsuna deadpanned. "What boyfriend?"

"Aren't you and Reborn-nii going out?" The girl who had held Tsuna's hand asked.

"Pfft! No, no, no!" Tsuna said with a laugh while she waved a hand back and forth in front of her. "I'd sooner take a bullet to my head than go out with him."

Reborn's brow twitched a little. He didn't know why but the brunette's words bothered him.

The kids looked at each other in confusion, but decided to accept the older girl's words. The waved good-bye one last time and ran inside.

"Tsuna!"

The brunette looked around to see Giotto, G, and Asari running over.

"Tsuna are you okay?" Giotto asked desperately. "Where did you go? What did Reborn do? He didn't do anything too bad did her? Why are the Arcobaleno Association here? What's going one?"

G clapped a hand onto his friend's should. "You should probably calm down. I doubt the chibi caught more than one question there."

Asari laughed. "So what are the rest of you doing here with Tsuna-chan, Luce-san?"

"We had a job to do and Reborn decided to bring Tsuna-chan along," the woman answered. "We actually just got back."

"That person took Tsuna along!" Giotto cried out incredulously. He turned back to Tsuna and grabbed her shoulders shaking her a little. "Tsuna are you alright? Did that idiot let you get hurt? Oh my god, you were probably almost killed by a thug weren't you!"

"G-G-Gi-o-o-t-t-t-t-o-o-o-o c-c-cal-lm d-d-d-do-o-o-own!" Tsuna managed through her ever growing dizziness.

Thankfully G pulled her away and helped her stay upright. "Giotto, you're probably doing more damage than any thug right now. Besides, you know that if push comes to shove, Tsuna can take care of herself."

"Tsuna-san was quite amazing today," Fon agreed.

Lal clicked her tongue. "She definitely didn't looked like the fighting type, but she proved herself today. She has a bit of my respect."

Colonello laughed. "It's just as Lal said. I actually want to spar with her later!"

Giotto frowned a little. "Tsuna, you…actually fought today?"

The brunette shrugged a little. "I wasn't just going to stand there and watch him cut up the little kids."

Giotto pulled the girl into a hug. "You did a good job protecting them then. I'm sorry that I couldn't have protected you that time."

Tsuna sighed a little. "It's fine." She pulled away and looked around. "You just reminded me. Where's that other idiot? I don't mind him not being here and all, but not knowing where he is means a lot of pain later-"

Her words were cut short as she was yanked back violently. "Where the hell did he even _hide_ that thing?" She yelled as she was reeled in for the umpteenth time that day.

* * *

><p><strong>There you have it! So how'd I do? You guys got to learn the purpose behind the Arcobaleno Association, yippee! Tsuna has also earned a few more mysterious, oh no!<strong>

**I want to say thank you so much to all my reviewers! This longer chapter is not only as an apology, but as a thank you! A thank you to the favs and adds as well! I'll try to put out an even longer chapter next week for all you reviewers! **

**Hope you liked this one! See ya!**


	5. Chapter 5 Current Bullies & Past Friends

**I'm a few days late, I know. Sorry, but I was a little depressed since my review count dropped so drastically last chapter. I know I was late, but ouch that hurt my pride. I made this chapter a little longer in hopes of regaining my reviewers and apologizing for my recently late updates. But I must say that I do have a valid excuse, I'm helping my sister with her first baby (he's ten days old now!).**

**Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. Please review!**

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><p>Chapter 5 Current Bullies and Past Friends<p>

Tsuna just lay where the bullies had left her, bruised and broken on the dirt. She listened as the group walked away, laughing at their latest assault on the poor girl. She had made it all the way to behind the high school division building before they had caught her. Apparently they had to make up for all the days they had lost and had beaten Tsuna until she was numb.

She sighed. Today really wasn't her day it seemed. She needed to get up and get going on dinner soon, but she wasn't willing to get up yet. But at the same time, she knew that if she didn't get going then Giotto and the others would worry. Every day at least one of them would come in to check on her, mostly during dinner time and they would happen to have 'forgotten' or 'didn't have time' to eat something before they came. It was Wednesday so Alaude was sure to be the one to stop by today and without a doubt he would be at her doorstep at six o' clock sharp, expecting something to be ready in the next ten minutes of his arrival. If Tsuna didn't hurry then she wouldn't be able to make it in time to take care of her injuries and get something finished, then Alaude would be suspicious and investigate. But at the same time, she was just _so_ tired.

'_It's always like this. Mom and Dad lied. They said that I would be safer here. They said that no one would hurt me the same way. They said I would be happier. That was a _lie_. It's the same no matter where I go. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this life. Why does this happen to me? Why can't I have a normal, _peaceful _life?' _Tsuna sighed internally (it hurt too much to take a deep breath for real)._ 'I don't want to worry Giotto and everyone else. It's my fault that they're here too so I need to take care of these wounds… I'll just take a short nap…then I'll get up and make something to eat…just after a short nap…_' Tsuna's thoughts drifted off as she fell unconscious. The last thing she registered was a strong pair of arms lifting her up.

* * *

><p>Reborn was ditching the latest Arcobaleno meeting. It wasn't all that important in his opinion. They were just going to discuss the number of suspicious people loitering around the school walls and then they would play Rock Paper Scissors to see who would go deal with the fools. They would probably just send Skull to get rid of all of them in the end.<p>

The raven haired teenager was about to head over to the middle school division to mess around with his favorite lackey when he noticed a group of what appeared to be middle schoolers walking out from behind the school building, laughing. At first he thought nothing of it and was going to ignore the group, but then a piece of their conversation floated his way.

"Dame-Tsuna was extra pathetic today."

"Yeah, she didn't cry, scream, or nothin'."

"That must mean we weren't hitting her hard enough. We'll do a better job with that stupid girl tomorrow."

"Yeah, but she was bleeding pretty good. I think she even coughed up a little blood when you kicked her boss."

"Naw, that was just because she bit her tongue when one of you punched her."

"She should just leave this school. I mean, it's a school for the _elite_ and Dame-Tsuna is definitely not elite."

"Hmph. No, it's fine if she stays. She makes a good punching bag after all. I have to vent all my stress and frustration somewhere, don't I?"

The rest of the group laughed at what looked to be their leader's comment.

It was like something snapped inside of Reborn. He didn't know why, but the fact that these kids had apparently just finished beating up Tsuna made him extremely mad. He decided that the reason he was so pissed must be because the only one he would tolerate beating up his property was himself. With that thought Reborn smirked and pulled out his weapon.

One small massacre later, Reborn retraced the steps the bullies had come out from and saw the brunette laying on her side in a daze. He sighed and was about to berate her about her pathetic behavior when a single tear rolled down her face as her eyes drifted close. The teenager froze. He hadn't been expecting that sort of reaction. The young man took a deep breath to break him out of his slight shock and bent down to pick the girl up as gently as he could. Up close, he could see the extent of her injuries and they were _not _pretty.

Reborn sighed yet again. '_This girl really knows how to get herself into trouble…_'

The young male carried his kōhai all the way back to her room, opening the door with the spare key he had copied when he had jacked her key the other day, and placing her carefully on the couch. He then proceeded to search her cabinets until he found one of the many first aid kits.

Now that he thought about it, this girl had one of the better dorm rooms even though she was just a first year in the junior high division. It wasn't as luxurious as his own room, but it definitely was better than what most of the other students received. Her records didn't indicate that she was someone of importance or wealth, so who could she be?

Reborn finished taking care of the brunette's wounds and was about to move away, but then the girl started mumbling in her sleep.

Tsuna whimpered a little. "It hurts… stupid Reborn….Alaude-san coming for dinner…gotta wake up…six o' clock…musn't worry Gio…wake up…" She shifted around, but did not wake up completely.

Reborn sighed yet again. This girl was bringing out a lot of the boy than he was used to giving. Reborn then went off to her kitchen and whipped up something enough for three and went back to wake the girl up.

"Oi! Baka-Tsuna! Wake up!" Reborn pulled the cushion out from under Tsuna, causing her to flip off the couch and onto the floor. He _had_ considered just shaking the girl awake normally, but where was the fun in that?

"What in the hell just happened?" The brunette grumbled somewhat incoherently. She looked around while rubbing her shoulder, which had hit the ground the hardest, and froze as her vision zeroed in on the raven haired teen towering over her. "Reborn! What are _you_ doing here? Get lost! And stop breaking into my room already!"

"Hmph, is that how you treat someone who's taken care of your wounds as well as the people who caused them?" Reborn asked as her propped himself against the couch.

"Wounds? People who caused them?" Tsuna looked down and finally remembered what had happened after classes had ended. "Oh yeah…those irritations were chasing me…"

"And then beat the living daylights out of you," Reborn finished unnecessarily.

Tsuna groaned. "Please tell me that I didn't get back here the way I _think_ I got here?"

"If you're implying that I was the one who carried you back to your room, after taking care of the nuisances, then bandaging all your injuries, then you'd be correct," Reborn said with blunt honesty.

Tsuna groaned even louder. She buried her face into her hands. '_I can't believe I thought that the person who carried me back had comforting warm arms and a nice scent._' Suddenly she gasped and looked up. "Crap! I have to make dinner before Alaude-san gets here!"

WHAP!

Tsuna fell down again when Reborn slapped her upside the head. "Itai! Dammit, Reborn! What was that for?"

"Calm down Dame-Tsuna. You'll give yourself an ulcer at this rate. Besides your dinner is already taken care of, or is your sense of smell so weak that you can't even detect _that_ much?"

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at this. "_You_ _**cooked**_? For real?"

"I _am_ quite capable of a number of things other than fighting," Reborn said indignantly.

"Except make your own favorite drink," Tsuna scoffed. She scooted back when Reborn raised an eyebrow at her and started to move his hand. "I give! I give! Jeez, you're such a stickler. So what is it that you want now?"

"Why would you assume I want something?"

Tsuna huffed at this. "You're kidding, right? I've only known you for about a month now and I can already tell that you're plotting something. You are definitely not the type of person to do a good deed for someone like me for free."

"Well, if you're so eager to have me plot something, then I feel obligated to think up something for you." Reborn crossed one arm and fingered his curly sideburn with the other.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no! You don't have to think of anything! _Don't_ think of anything! I'm good! I'm good! I'm good!" Tsuna yelled while waving her hands in front of her frantically.

Reborn smirked. '_How gullible. Of course I'm going to make her do something to make for this later._'

Tsuna twitched a little at the smirk. '_I'm doomed._'

"So tell me strange girl-"

"Don't call me strange girl!" Tsuna interrupted.

Reborn just continued as if the girl hadn't spoken. "Why is it that a more than capable fighter, such as yourself, can't even defend herself from such a weak set of bullies?"

Tsuna flinched. She had been hoping that Reborn wouldn't bring the topic up.

"In fact," Reborn continued. "You seem to be quite capable of a lot of things, and yet you have earned yourself the nickname of Dame-Tsuna. Care to explain."

"No, I don't. It's none of your concern," Tsuna growled.

"So does this mean that you are also smarter than you seem and you're just pretending to fail at school?" Reborn pressed.

Tsuna huffed a little. "No, I really do have a difficult time with math, English, and science."

"But that means you're good enough with the rest of your subjects," Reborn pointed out. "So why are you failing all of them?"

Tsuna's eyes dulled a little. "Stay inconspicuous and there will be less painful experiences."

Reborn frowned a little. "What does that-" The rest of his question was cut off by three sharp raps on the door.

Tsuna sent the raven haired teenager a sharp glare. "You have two choices. Either get out or keep your mouth shut while Alaude-san is here."

Reborn smirked. "What makes you think you could order me around?"

"What makes you think I'll continue to make your espresso for you if you don't?" Tsuna countered. "I won't make a single cup ever again if you mess with my visiting time with any of them. Not even if you torture me."

Reborn shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter if I mess with you now or later. I have plenty of time to play around with you."

Tsuna deadpanned. Of course he would say something like that. What else would she expect? The brunette shook her head, but accepted the man's reply as she had to go answer the door before Alaude broke it down.

"Fine then, stay. But no smart ass remarks! I'd like to be alive when I go to class tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Tsuna yawned and looked around for the room Alaude had told her to go to after classes ended. She finally located the room and was about to open the door when voices reached her. The brunette's heart wrenched. She knew those voices.<p>

"Shut up stupid cow! Primo said 'be quiet'!"

"Guys…"

"Now, now Gokudera. If you don't be a little more quiet then Tsuna is going to here you, then it won't be a surprise anymore."

"Kufufufu, at this rate she will have heard us from outside the building and have left. Don't you agree, Chrome?"

"Mukuro-sama"

"Tsuna-nee! Help me!"

"Uh, guys?"

"What is extremely taking so long!"

"If you continue to disturb the peace then I shall bite you to death."

Her heart rate spiked and the girl started to hyperventilate as she slowly backed away from the door. Horrible memories of her past were flashing past her eyes. Finally it was too much and she ran for it, accidentally knocking over a vase in her hurry. She barely registered hearing the door slam open and the people calling after her. Tsuna put on an extra burst of speed and ran away from the building and jumped into a tree to hide from the people pursuing her.

* * *

><p>A few minutes back…<p>

"Alright everyone, you can wait in here," Asari said as he opened to the door and finished leading the rowdy group inside.

"It'll be great to see Tsuna again," Yamamoto said cheerily. "Thanks aniki!"

Asari bowed his head in acknowledgment. "I'm sure you're all excited. It's been almost a year now since you've seen her."

"You brats better be thankful that we're here. Otherwise you'd have no way to visit her at all," G said grouchily.

"Shut up, pinky! You should be more grateful that Juudaime even gives you the time of day!" Gokudera shouted.

"And you should consider yourself lucky that I even let you into this school! You should be more grateful to your oldest sibling you brat!" G shouted back.

"G, Gokudera-kun, calm down," Giotto said wearily.

"Right away, Primo!" Gokudera called out cheerfully.

"I extremely can't wait to see Sawada again!" Ryohei added his own loud voice to the mix. "Right Kyoko!"

The orange haired girl smile and nodded. "Un! It's just too bad that Haru-chan can't be here too."

"I don't know why we all have to wait here," Lampo complained. "Now that we let the brats in, can't the rest of us go back to our rooms?"

Giotto sighed. "Your siblings are only allowed into the school because they're officially visiting you guys. They wouldn't be able to see Tsuna since they aren't family."

"Kufufufu, I suppose I can consider one of your favors repaid with this brother." Mukuro walked over to one of the sofas and sat down, patting the seat next to him while looking at his stepsister.

"Thank you, Daemon-nii," Chrome said quietly before rushing off to her other stepbrother.

"Nufufufu, it's quite alright," Daemon said a little more kindly than his normal tone. "That little rabbit needs all the friends she could get."

Hibari yawned and shifted his position on the window sill a little, but said nothing. His older brother grabbed a chair somewhat nearby and sat down.

"You guys might want to quiet down so that you don't let Tsuna know you're here. Otherwise, she might run away before you even get a chance to say hello," Giotto added.

Lambo hopped up on top of the coffee table obnoxiously. "Gyahahahahaha! Lambo-san is going to make Tsuna-nee make lots of treats to make up for all the days she was gone!"

"Shut up stupid cow! Primo said 'be quiet'!" Gokudera yelled angrily, grabbing the small boy by his afro.

Giotto sighed and was about to remind the group that they needed to quiet down when a shadow by the door caught his attention. "Guys…"

"Now, now Gokudera. If you don't be a little more quiet then Tsuna is going to here you, then it won't be a surprise anymore," Yamamoto said with a happy laugh.

Mukuro shook his head at the groups' antics. "Kufufufu, at this rate she will have heard us from outside the building and have left. Don't you agree, Chrome?"

"Mukuro-sama," Chrome agreed quietly.

"Tsuna-nee!" Lambo called out desperately. "Help me!"

"Uh, guys?" Giotto tried to call for the younger groups' attention again.

"What is extremely taking so long!" Ryohei shouted.

Hibari finally had enough and decided to speak up. "If you continue to disturb the peace then I shall bite you to death."

"GUYS!" Giotto shouted. The group finally shut up and looked toward their friend's older brother figure. "She's getting away!"

It took a second for the blonde's words to sink in, then they all jumped up and ran out of the room to go find their precious companion.

* * *

><p>Reborn was walking a little ahead of the rest of the group, bored out of his mind. He would have already ditched the rest of them already, but Luce had ordered him to stick with them as punishment for skipping the meeting a few days ago. Though, as far as punishments went, this one was definitely one of the lighter ones. Reborn suspected that the reason was because the woman had found out that he had helped Tsuna when he had skipped the meeting, but he didn't even want to <em>think<em> about what else had gone through her mind when she found out.

His train of thought was thrown off suddenly by the appearance of Tsuna. Reborn stopped to watch as she ran like crazy before looking behind her for a second then jumping into a tree.

Reborn paused for an instant before walking over to the tree the girl had disappeared into and was about to call out to the girl when Colonello beat him to the punch.

"What the hell are you doing, kora!" The blond shouted as he and the rest of the Arcobaleno caught up with the raven haired teenager.

"Hiiiiiiie!" Tsuna jumped in surprise, not expecting anyone else to be after her. The jolt was big enough to knock Tsuna off balance and before she could grab a branch to stabilize herself, she fell right into Colonello's arms.

"Whoa, careful there, kora!" The blond smiled brightly, making the girl in his arms blush even more furiously.

For some reason, their position irked Reborn. He decided to take his frustration out on the poor girl who caught his attention. "How pathetic, Dame-Tsuna. If you're being chased, then how could you be so unaware of your surroundings?"

"Shut up, stupid Reborn!" Tsuna bit back. "And Colonello-senpai, could you put me down now, please?"

The blond chuckled. "Alright, kora!"

Tsuna muttered a thanks as she was set back on her feet. She was about to ask the group about their appearance, but her senses went on overdrive and she stiffened. "Shit!" The brunette hissed before climbing back into the shadows of the tree.

"What was all of that about, kora?" Colonello asked.

"Dunno," Reborn answered shortly. "But I think we're about to find out."

"Tsuuuunaa!" G was heard before seen. The red head, Asari, and what looked to be their clones, ran out from around the corner like the brunette before them. "Tsuna!"

"Ah, good afternoon everyone," Asari said politely after spotting the group. "I'm sorry to trouble you, but have you seen Tsuna-chan recently?"

"No," Reborn lied easily.

Luce raised an eyebrow slightly, but didn't question her friend's answer, choosing to interrogate the newcomers instead. "Why are you looking for Tsuna-chan? Doesn't she hang around you guys on a normal basis? I hope you haven't hurt her in any way."

Asari's laugh was a little strained. "Yeah, normally Tsuna-chan wouldn't have any problem meeting up with us, but this isn't really a normal circumstance."

Luce frowned a little. The boy had deliberately avoided her question of if they were hurting the small brunette.

"And it's none of your business as to why we are looking for her," G grunted.

"I would say that it is our business," Fon interjected. "Most of us care for Tsuna as well and if you are trying to force her into something against her will, then it would be best if you stopped."

The Asari lookalike laughed a little. "You sound like you're good friends with Tsuna!"

"And who are you two?" Lal asked in a somewhat demanding tone.

"You obviously don't attend this school," Mammon added.

Verde nodded. "So we must assume that you are visitors, probably siblings to the student council members if your looks are anything to go by."

"It's rude to ignore us!" Skull added, though cowering behind Luce a bit when Reborn sent him a glare.

Asari's lookalike laughed again. "Sorry about that. I'm Yamamoto Takeshi! Ugetsu is my older brother, but he took on our mother's maiden name when she died."

"And this sour puss in my youngest sibling, Gokudera Hayato," G jabbed his thumb at the silver haired teen.

"Che, who said you could tell them my name pinky!" Gokudera muttered.

G slapped the boy's head. "Since when did you become such an unruly mutt, you brat."

The Arcobaleno quickly introduced themselves as well.

"Well, we'd love to stay and chat, but our younger siblings are only visiting for a week so we better find Tsuna," Asari said, not unkindly. "We shall converse with you on a later date, good day."

"Nice to meet all of you!" Yamamoto called out as the group walked away.

Reborn waited till the foursome was out of sight before turning back to the tree. "You can come out now."

A sigh was heard then Tsuna dropped out of the tree and landed nimbly on her feet. "Thank you for not giving me away."

Luce smiled. "It was no trouble, really. But may I ask why they were chasing you?"

Tsuna tensed. She was really hoping that they wouldn't ask. Tsuna was never one to lie to anyone and even if she did, they would see right through it because of how horrible of a liar she was. "The student council all have younger siblings, I'm the only one who doesn't have a blood relationship with my older brother figure. But before I came to this school, all of us used to be really close friends…"

"So why are you running away from them now, kora?" Colonello inquired bluntly, not noticing the girl's discomfort.

Tsuna curled her hands into fists, he knuckles turning white from the force. "Something happened a couple of years ago and their presence does nothing but remind me of it."

"Haven't you ever watched _The Lion King_?" Skull asked. "It's all in the past so 'hakuna matata'!"

Colonello slapped the backside of the biker's head. "We know better than anyone how a painful past can affect us."

Fon walked forward and placed a gentle hand on the brunette's shoulder. "Tsuna, I have a suggestion for you concerning this week."

* * *

><p><strong>Cliffhanger, yeah! I really hoped you liked this chapter! If this story ends up dropping in popularity even more, then I think I'll just end up focusing more on my other stories. <strong>

**Please tell me what you thought! Reviews make a quicker update!**


	6. Chapter 6 The Woes of Life

**Yay! I'm able to update on time! Yippee! A special thank you all my wonderful reviewers! This on-time chapter goes to you guys! Thanks to the favs and alerts as well! All of you are the reason the cogs in my brain are running on full power!**

** I hope this chapter is to your liking! Please review after reading!**

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><p>Chapter 6 The Woes of Life<p>

"Waaaaaaaaah! God must hate meeeeee!" Tsuna wailed, hands at the corners of her eyes as she cried (looking much like a small defenseless kitten). '_Now, in what is sure to be the last few moments of my life, it is lunch time and I currently find myself locked inside the torture room of the devil. All that I can see is shadows and the dried blood of past victims. The jagged edges of the demon's weapons can barely be seen from their shelves, but they seem to be taunting me and laughing at what's to come_.'

BAM!

Reborn whacked the backside of the brunette's head with one of his textbooks as he entered his dorm room, sending the poor brunette flying a few feet before skidding to a stop on her front. "Stop exaggerating, Dame-Tsuna. And hurry up and get away from the door, or next time I'll just run you over."

Okay, so it wasn't all that bad. The room was actually very nice! The students with a high enough status practically have their own house or condo to themselves. Heck, it might as well be a penthouse! But, the fact that it belonged to _Reborn_, was more than enough to set Tsuna's sometimes overactive imagination into overdrive.

"This is going to be the worst week of my life," Tsuna whimpered as she pushed herself off the ground. She sighed. '_Well, I guess it could be worse. I could have been stuck with that creep from that other academy._'

How did she end up here again?

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

_Fon walked forward and placed a gentle hand on the brunette's shoulder. "Tsuna, I have a suggestion for you concerning this week."_

_Chills went down the brunette's spine when she saw the Chinese man's smile. She had a _really_ bad feeling about this. "Eto…What…would that…be…Fon-senpai?" She tried to smile as she asked the man._

_Fon's smile widened a little, sending an even more violent shiver down the girl's back. "Why don't you live with Reborn in his dorm this week?"_

"_Eh?" Reborn glared at the other black haired boy. Those were definitely not the set of words he expected to come out of the other's mouth._

"_Hiiiiiie! Why? And why him!" Tsuna shrieked._

_Luce smiled brightly (and suspiciously) as well. "I agree with Fon. You'll absolutely be able to avoid the student council and their siblings if you're with him."_

"_I'd rather hide in the forest for a week," Tsuna deadpanned._

"_Don't be like that, Tsuna-chan." Luce waved her hand up and down as an act to brush of the younger girl's words. "This is a perfect plan! At first I thought that maybe you should stay with either Lal or me instead. But when I thought about it, Fon couldn't be more correct!"_

_Said boy nodded. "Ieyasu and the others would be sure to check Lal and Luce's room. I'm sure the next they would check would be with myself, so then I considered Colonello, but he tends to leave explosives lying around so you might not make it out safely. Then there was Verde, but he leaves his stuff lying around as well. Then Mammon, but he has some unruly visitors at the most random of times."_

"_Ah! Speaking of which," Tsuna interjected. "Mammon, how is everyone doing? I haven't seen them in a while."_

"_Same as always," the hooded boy replied._

_Tsuna sighed. "Well, that's not very surprising."_

_Mammon shrugged. "Boss and the loudmouth say you should visit more."_

_Tsuna grimaced. "_He _actually said that?"_

"_Not out loud."_

"_Ah, I see."_

"_Hmm~?" Luce hummed. "Tsuna-chan, you know the Varia-kuns?"_

"_Erg, kind of," Tsuna trailed off. "It's a long, long, _long_ and very exasperating story."_

"_Wait, so you've known Mammon all along, kora?" Colonello somewhat demanded._

"_Yeah," Tsuna said with a shrug._

"_So you've known Mammon, but you had no clue about the Arcobaleno?" Reborn asked._

"_Not a clue," the brunette said unashamedly._

"_I never brought it up and no one ever mentioned it," Mammon answered the unasked question. "I also never saw a reason to tell her."_

"_But you two acted like you didn't know each other this whole time," Lal pointed out._

_Tsuna shrugged. "We don't talk much as it is."_

"_But Mammon even had to introduce himself, kora!"_

"_You would make us explain our relationship, like right now, if I hadn't, or Luce would have started lecturing me and all of that seemed too tedious," Mammon grumbled._

"_It's too tedious _now_," Tsuna muttered. The hooded boy nodded in agreement. _

_Reborn shook his head. "Putting that aside, Fon continue what you were saying before."_

_The martial artist nodded. "Anyways, after considering everyone I decided that Reborn would be the best choice because there's no way that Tsuna would stay with the person who bothers her so much."_

"_If you know that, then why do you even suggest it!" Tsuna nearly yelled._

"_Because Ieyasu and the others will automatically assume that Reborn is the very last person Tsuna would hide with," Fon replied calmly._

_Tsuna could only gape at the man. The brunette shook her head and started to walk away._

"_Ara? Tsuna-chan where are you going?" Luce called out._

"_To go find a nice rock to hide under until this week is over," Tsuna replied emotionlessly._

_Luce caught up to the girl and placed an arm around the other's shoulder, forcefully directing the brunette back to the other members of her group. "Come now, Tsuna-chan. Don't be like that. Living with Reborn could turn out to be a good thing for you."_

_Tsuna deadpanned. "Not possible. I'd probably die the first night."_

_Luce tilted her head, confused. "I don't think Reborn would kill you in your sleep, deary. He said he wanted to toy with you and in order for him to do that, he needs you alive and well."_

"_No, no, no." Tsuna shook her head. "I mean I'd die of aggravation."_

_Luce hummed a little as she tried to think of a way to convince the younger girl to go with their plan. She brightened as an idea hit her and leaned forward to whisper in Tsuna's ear._

_As Luce continued, Tsuna started to look more thoughtful. "Well~… I suppose that _would_ be interesting, but…I dunno…"_

_Luce clapped her hands together. "So it's settled! Tsuna-chan will be staying with Reborn this week."_

"_WHAT! I haven't even agreed yet!" Tsuna yelled._

"_I'm so glad this worked out!" Luce cheered, ignoring the brunette's complaints._

_End Flashback_

* * *

><p>Oh yeah. That's right. Luce and Fon forced her into this. Tsuna nearly broke out into tears again.<p>

"You're not the only one being inconvenienced by all of this," Reborn griped.

Tsuna bowed her head. "I'm sorry."

Reborn looked back at the girl to see her in a depressed state with her head hanging and her bottom lip sticking out. His heart clenched a bit. But why? He wasn't feeling…guilty, was he?...No way! Not possible! There is no way, no how, that he, _Reborn_, was feeling guilty. He turned away and dropped his stuff onto a couch, heading toward his kitchen. "I'm going to make something to eat."

Tsuna's head snapped up. "Ah! Wait! I'll cook something for you! That is…if you don't mind me using your kitchen and all…"

"That's okay, you're technically a guest so I can make something," Reborn replied offhandedly.

"But, you were right, I'm inconveniencing you, so I should help in any way I can. So it's no trouble for me to cook while I stay here," Tsuna argued.

"I'm sure you realize I know how to cook by now," Reborn objected.

"I'm not insulting your ability, I just don't want to any more of a burden than I already have to be!"

"If I thought you were going to be a burden then I wouldn't have bothered with you in the first place! Besides, I could have just said no when Fon initially suggested the idea!"

"Eeeerg! Why can't you just let me help!"

"Why can't you just let _me_ help!"

"You're so frustrating!"

"You talk too much!"

"Arg! I'm going to cook all your god damned meals and that's final!"

"Okay," Reborn said easily and walked away like an argument had never happened.

Tsuna gaped at the boy. "Wh-What? What do you mean, 'okay'? That's it! What'd you even argue back for if you were just going to say okay?"

"One, to mess with you. Two, to make you agree to cook all my meals so you can't kick up a fuss later. And three, to mess with you."

Tsuna's eye started to twitch. She fell for his little trap; hook, line, and sinker.

"Oh, and don't keep frowning like before. You'll get wrinkles early. You're already useless, so don't go adding hag to your name as well." Reborn then walked over to a couch and flopped down onto the cushions.

Tsuna's emotions went through shocked, to pissed, to super pissed, to I'm-going-to-blow-something-up pissed, to completely drained. She sighed then giggled a bit. She didn't feel so bummed out anymore.

'_But maybe that's what Reborn was after all along…Perhaps I misjudged him a bit._' Tsuna smiled a little as she walked into the kitchen and started looking around for the utensils she needed. "Hey, Reborn? Where are your tongs?"

There was a soft snore and a sleep bubble came out of the raven head's nose.

"Damn it Reborn!" Tsuna yelled. '_I take it back, he's just a jerk!_'

* * *

><p>Extra- Tsuna Meets the Varia<p>

Tsuna knocked on the student council president's office door, then slid it open. "Giotto, I'm checking in, holy-" Tsuna's curse was cut off of as she ducked a knife. She stood up slowly and raised and eyebrow at the knife imbedded where her head used to be.

"Shishishi, I missed."

Tsuna looked around to see a blond wearing a tiara lounging on one of the couches with his feet on the coffee table. Next to him was a boy wearing a hood that hid most of his face, sitting with one leg over the other while counting a stack of bills. The other couch was occupied by one person holding what looked suspiciously like alcohol, behind him was an extremely spikey haired with many piercings weirdo and a teenager with long white hair, carrying a sword. Behind the boys with the tiara and cloak was a boy wearing a…frog hat? Last of all was a teenager with tricolored hair, who was squealing at Tsuna with his pinkies up.

"Ugh," Tsuna deadpanned. "I've entered a room of idiots." She turned around, intending to leave, but the single teenager on the couch had other plans.

Being a rather temperamental and prideful git, was rather pissed at Tsuna's 'lovely' remark and threw his beverage at the girl's head. But to his and the others' great surprise, the girl tilted slightly to the side caught the bottle easily, barely turning around to do so.

Tsuna looked around at the boy with a sweet smile. "Please be careful with glass bottles. It would be a shame to create a mess when Ieyasu-senpai will be the one who has to clean it up. Plus, we wouldn't want you to get hurt from one of the rebounding shards, now would we?"

Six of the seven teens tensed and glanced at the teenager lying down on the couch, fearful of his actions. _Never_ has anyone threatened this person before and lived. But to their astonishment, the bulky teenager burst out laughing.

"What's your name, trash?"

Tsuna frowned. "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, Tsuna for short, _not_ trash. And yours?" Tsuna's gaze trailed over all the occupants, silently letting them know she was asking all of them and not just the boy on the couch.

"Well I'll start off! I'm Lussuria! You can call me Luss-nee, alright little Tsu-Tsu?"

'_I don't think so,_' Tsuna thought to herself.

"VOOII! Superbia Squalo, and don't forget it."

'_A.k.a. Loudmouth._'

"Hmph, Levi A Than."

'_I now dub thee, holey spikes._' Tsuna giggled in her head.

"Ushishishi, I'm Bel, but as a prince, you should address me as such peasant."

'_Prince of irritations. I guess this is what they mean by being a 'royal pain'._'

"You can call me Fran, puffball-san."

'…_Okay then…Though this one seems familiar._'

"Hmm~, you can call me Mammon, I suppose."

'_I've got nothing on this one so far, other than he's greedy._' Tsuna slowly turned to face the last one.

The boy smirked haughtily. "Xanxus."

'…_Pfft, if you take out the x's in his name, then you get-_' Chibi Tsuna (in Tsuna's head) was laughing her head off while rolling around on the ground. The laughter was so contagious that it was taking a lot of Tsuna to keep herself from laughing outloud. "Riiiiiight, well, I'm gonna go now. Buh bye." Tsuna turned ans walked out of the room.

* * *

><p>The Next Day…<p>

"NO WAY! They were _that_ dangerous!" Tsuna shouted. "They just looked like a bunch of idiots to me!"

Giotto slumped into his seat with one hand hanging off and the other hand covering his face, nearly falling out of the leather office chair. "Oh my god, Tsuna. You've only been here for two months and you already have your name at the top of Xanxus's list to kill."

"I didn't mean to! They just acted like a bunch of idiots!"

Giotto groaned. "But why, oh _why_ did you have to flat out threaten him?"

"I didn't threaten him, per say…I just told him to look after himself…It would be a shame if he got any more scars, after all…"

Giotto whimpered. "Please tell me you didn't say anything about his scars?"

"Of course not!" Tsuna said indignantly. "That would just be plain rude."

"You need to apologize as soon as you can."

"What!" Tsuna objected. "I don't want to do that! He was a total ass for trying to hit me with that glass bottle!"

"Tsuuunaaa~! How am I supposed to keep you alive now? I can't be with you 24/7."

"Stop being so pathetic, trash."

"Erg. Giotto, could you at least give me a bit of warning time before you do this?" The brunette grumbled.

"If I did, then you would have taken the chance to escape." Giotto sighed and turned his attention to the newcomer. "Hello cousin, glad to see you're well."

"Trash."

The blond ignored his adoptive relative's greeting as it was normal for just about everyone. "Well, Tsuna here has something she'd like to say to you."

Tsuna shook her head and gave the blond a warning glare behind Xanxus's back, but to no avail.

Xanxus turned around with a smirk and stared at the girl. This time it was Giotto who was sending a warning glare behind his cousin's back.

Tsuna rolled her eyes and bowed forward stiffly. "I am very sorry for my actions yesterday and I hope that you can forgive me, Xanxus-san," the brunette said stiffly, though her tone said that she didn't give a rat's ass about the teenager.

There was a small huff of air then Xanxus burst out into a fit of laughter once again. "You're an interesting one, Sawada. I'll be keeping an eye on you." With that said, Xanxus turned and walked out of the office.

There was a long pause of silence.

"I think I would have preferred if he hit me," Tsuna muttered.

Giotto slammed his head onto his desk. "How on earth did you manage to get some of his respect in a matter of minutes, whereas I've known that guy for _years_ and I haven't even been able to take a single step forward in his books!"

Tsuna walked over and rubbed soothing circles on the blonde's back. "You can't have everything Giotto. Life ain't fair, after all."

* * *

><p><strong>I even managed to get in an extra for you guys! I hoped you liked it!<strong>

**And cliffhangers...again! Try taking a guess what Luce whispered to Tsuna!**

**Hoped you guys liked it! Please Review!**


	7. Chapter 7 A Demonic Night Out

**Sigh. Yes, this story is a few days late. Please don't remind me. I seem to be overwhelmed by the amount my mind needs to process, so even if I have all the ideas for the next chapter in my head, I still need to get them back in order.**

**So the first part of this chapter will be informational and then the story will continue after that.**

**Please tell me what you think of this chapter!**

* * *

><p>Information<p>

* * *

><p>So it has come to my attention (thank you <span>tazdevil<span>!) that I haven't been very descriptive of Tsuna and I realized that more than one person may be curious. So I've decided to put in a small section at the beginning of this chapter to not only describe Tsuna, but Vongola Academy's uniform as well!

First of all, the uniform:

It's actually quite simple! Formal Attire. The boys are basically wearing suits but instead of a jacket, they wear a vest. The girl's uniform is basically the same, but they wear skirts instead of dress pants. Vests are optional. Students are allowed to personalize their uniforms with small accessories, not including ties which should match the uniform. But if the adornments go overboard in quantity, are too flash, or become provocative, they will be confiscated (this is a wealthy and classy school, so they do have standards). Girls are also allowed to wear heels as long as they do not exceed three inches. All shoes must be black in color. Girls are also allowed to wear shorts underneath their skirt, as long as they don't show. Boys can choose a shoe color of either black or brown.

During the Fall and Winter seasons, students are allowed to wear sweaters (remember the dark blue one Yamamoto wore in the anime? Same color). The uniform color for this season is a black suit. Spring and Summer uniforms are gray, ties included.

Students are allowed to wear whatever they want after school hours. Special events also require formal wear, but the students don't have to wear their uniforms. Boys must wear black or brown socks. Girls are restricted to either stockings or knee length socks.

Gym attire consists of simple black shorts (slightly above mid-thigh for the girls), a white t-shirt, and mostly white shoes (mostly because students are allowed to choose their own workout shoes). Both are specially ordered for the school and are originally made for professional athletes (for the sarcastic minded, this is a good time to question the school's choice of using their budget; Tsuna certainly has). Under armor in either black or white is allowed during cold weather.

Now for Tsuna!

Tsuna has long brown hair, the length reaching about mid-back, hardly ever tied up. Her bangs, for a lack of a better visual description, can be compared to Bel's; they completely cover her eyes as of this moment. If Tsuna chooses to take care of her hair after taking her morning shower (which usually doesn't happen), then she'll have smooth, glossy hair. On the mornings she doesn't, then her hair frizzes up _badly_, to the point that the top of her head is a fuzz ball (bangs do not apply; they are never frizzy oddly enough). She is of average height, but seems shorter since she chooses not to wear heels like most of the other girls. She has big eyes, just like the cannon Tsuna. Tsuna doesn't have any visible trinkets, other than a chain sporting a couple of rings that are usually hidden under her shirt. She does have curves, but she wears her shirt slightly untucked so that they are not clearly defined. She tends to wear knee length socks, since she wears shorts underneath her skirt (her reasoning is for another time).

On a side note: if Tsuna's hair is cut to about chin length, then it will start to defy gravity and she will look like the cannon Tsuna, which is the main reason that she grows it out so long.

I should also remind everyone that Tsuna transferred into the school in the last few months of sixth grade (the last year of primary school), and is now a few months into her first year in middle school. That means that she is 14!

_**Now**_ this is _**important**_! Tsuna's appearance will be changing a little in the near future! When that time comes, then I'll try to make sure that I give you a proper description in the story itself. If there is anything else that anyone would like me to give a clearer description of, then let me know and I'll put it at the beginning of the next chapter, unless I think that it would be better to do it in the story or if it will be coming up in a later chapter.

* * *

><p>Story!<p>

* * *

><p>Chapter 7 A Demonic Night Out<p>

It was dark outside and the two teenagers now forced to live together had just finished a rather pleasant dinner, including of only a few insults and several death threats from both sides. Now getting close to bedtime, Reborn and Tsuna were faced with their first real major problem of the day.

It wasn't clothing. Reborn planned to break into Tsuna's room via her window the next morning, and she was perfectly fine with using one of his numerous dress shirts as her temporary pajama with only a small sarcastic, 'honestly Reborn, have you ever heard of _casual_ clothes?'.

No, the problem lay in their sleeping arrangements.

While Tsuna was vehemently arguing that she was merely a guest and should not take up any more of Reborn's hospitality (no matter how forced), Reborn was arguing that it was because she was female and a guest that she should be the one to use the bed, though his kindness was slighted by his insults of how unattractive and plain Tsuna was compared to the other girls in the school.

Apparently, the penthouse like dorm didn't come with a guest bedroom.

Go figure.

"Just shut up, you asshole! I said I would sleep on the god damned couch!" Tsuna shouted.

"Shut up, Dame-Tsuna. I'm done arguing this with you," Reborn growled as he grabbed the girl and hoisted her, kicking and screaming, over his shoulder and carried her to the bedroom. He tossed her onto the bed and was about to walk away but the brunette caught his wrist, preventing him from leaving.

The brunette tightened her hold on the boy, and catching him off guard, she pulled him down onto the bed as well. She twisted around swiftly so that she was straddling the boy with her hands on his chest. "I don't need you charity," the girl growled.

Reborn threw the brunette off and switched their positions so that now he was straddling her waist, his hands pinning her wrist down beside her head. "Who said this was charity. Maybe I just want you to be in my debt."

"That's even worse!" Tsuna spat as she struggled to push the male off of her. "Will you get off me!"

Reborn tightened his hold, but made also made sure that he wouldn't hurt the small girl. "Depends, will you stop arguing and just take the bed already?"

"No! It's your room, so _you_ take it!" Tsuna huffed and stopped struggling. Reborn was _way_ stronger than she could ever hope to be and this position didn't offer her any leverage. She glared at the boy on top of her.

"I don't need the bed," Reborn said evenly. He finally got off Tsuna.

Tsuna pushed herself up and frowned at the boy. "How about we compromise?"

Reborn raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Well, why don't we both sleep on the bed?" Tsuna clarified.

It took a great deal of the raven haired boy's self-control to keep his blush hidden away. Was this girl really _that_ innocent? Did she _not_ understand the implications of her words?

"I used to share a bed with Giotto when we slept over at each other's houses," Tsuna continued, like she hadn't said anything wrong. "We stopped when Giotto started going to middle school though. He said it was because the bed was too small to share by that time."

'_Oho? The stupid blond seems to like this strange girl more than I originally speculated._' Reborn smirked. He had initially thought that the blond bore a strong brotherly love toward the brunette, but if what she said was true, then Reborn just got his hands on some valuable blackmail.

"So will that be alright with you?" Tsuna finished off, breaking Reborn out of his plans of how to mess with the idiot president.

Reborn stared at the girl. She didn't seem uncomfortable with the idea, despite all of her misgivings of the boy, so perhaps it would be alright. It's not like he was attracted to her anyways…Right?

"Fine. Scoot over." Reborn climbed onto the bed and pulled over the sheets.

Tsuna crawled over to the other side of the bed and pulled the sheets up to her neck. The two of them were the farthest away from each other as possible. "Night, Reborn."

The other answered with a soft snore.

* * *

><p>It was in the middle of the night when Reborn suddenly awoke. He was a light sleeper, a defense mechanism he taught himself at an early age (don't ask why, he just did). He looks down at the source that had awoken him.<p>

'_I should have known that she was the snuggling type,_' he thought wearily. At some point during the night, both he and Tsuna had ended up in the middle of the bed. He could have just flipped the girl off the bed, but he was warm and comfortable (not to mention that the brunette had a rather tight grip and he wasn't willing to admit that it would take a little work to pry her off), so he'd let it go for now. With that, Reborn drifted back to sleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning when Tsuna opened her eyes, the first thing that registered in her mind was that Reborn's face was about an inch from her own.<p>

'_Huh, whatever. It's just Reborn._' With that thought Tsuna let go of the boy and rolled over.

…

'_Holy Shit! __**Reborn**__!_' Tsuna mentally shouted as she bolted out of the bed with a "Hiiiiie!" (As was normal). She did so with enough force to send her tumbling off the side. Before she could sit up though, a pillow whacked her in the face.

"Shut up, Dame-Tsuna. Don't scream at the sight of my face." Reborn twisted his neck a little till it gave a satisfactory pop.

"Well sorry~. I wasn't expecting to see the devil first thing in the morning, so pardon my near death heart attack," Tsuna grumbled.

The rest of the morning was rather uneventful. While Reborn broke into her room (Tsuna cursing under her breath the entire time, vowing to install a new lock later), the brunette girl whipped up a nice breakfast. Reborn made it back just as she finished, to Tsuna's utter horror as she was hoping to eat at least a few of her meals separately. Once again a few threats and insults were thrown back in forth, before their dishes were placed in the dishwasher while Tsuna went to change into her uniform. Luce came over in time to escort Tsuna to her classroom, waving with a cheery goodbye and a promise that they would meet in the Arcobaleno's meeting room for lunch before Tsuna opened the door and entered the classroom. The rest of the day went on as it normally did for the brunette…

Not.

During her last class before lunch break, Tsuna's intuition suddenly flared. Faster than the naked eye could follow, the brunette gathered all of her possessions and opened the window next to her, hopping up onto the edge.

"Sawada! What do you think you're doing?" The teacher demanded.

"Sorry, Sensei," Tsuna said apologetically as she looked over her shoulder. "But I have to leave right now."

"Wha-" The teacher was interrupted by the classroom door opening.

"Sorry for interrupting, but I need- Tsuna!" G called out as his sight landed on the girl.

"Not good." Tsuna jumped, ignoring the shouts of alarm behind her. She could understand their shock, since it was unlikely for a normal to come out unscathed after jumping out of a second floor window. But then again, she wasn't normal.

Tsuna landed gracefully and took off running, making a beeline for the forest so that she could hide amongst the trees. But even with her head start, the others were on her trail and were gaining fast.

She put on a burst of speed and ran over to the office building, running through a side door and sprinting up the stairs. She then proceeded to burst through a set of double doors, dodging a bottle while she was at it.

"Yo, Xanxus. Everyone. Talk to you in a minute," Tsuna said quickly as she swung herself up and into a special hidden vent that was built just for her to hide in, thanks to the Varia.

Everyone, figuring that the girl was running away from someone, continued as they were and only looked up when the door burst open again.

"Crap! I was sure that she ran in here," G muttered.

"Shows how much you know, idiot pinkie," Gokudera grumbled.

"Kufufufu," Mukuro chuckled, though it was apparent that he was not amused. "You're all rather useless."

"Guys, I don't think this is a good place to argue," Giotto said uneasily.

"Tsuna-nee! Lambo-san demands you play with him!" The small cow child yelled.

"What are you doing here scum," Xanxus demanded, having enough of being ignored.

Giotto laughed a little nervously, Xanxus must be pretty mad to revert back to scum. "Hey there cousin. Have you seen Tsuna-chan pass through here by any chance?"

"Ushishishi, the prince has not seen la principessa for too long," Bel chuckled.

"I think I saw Tsu-Tsu running outside a little while ago," Lusseria told the group. "She looked quite desperate! What have you been doing to our poor Tsu-Tsu?"

"Tch. This is none of your concern," Gokudera growled.

Yamamoto just laughed. "Now, now Gokudera. They're just curious is all!"

"Shut up, Yakyū-Baka!" Gokudera yelled.

"VOOOI! Will you pieces of trash get out!" Squalo yelled while waving his sword around.

"It's obvious that Tsuna doesn't want to see any of you right now, so you should just leave," Mammon said uncaringly as he walked into the room.

"Wow. You must be really annoying perverted stalkers since Fuzzball-san is running away," Fran said unemotionally. "You must be even worse than the fake prince and the stupid mustache."

"Shishishi. I'm not a fake prince." Bel threw several knives at the teal haired boy.

Fran sucked in a little air. "Bel-senpai, stop throwing your stupid knives at me, or Tsuna-san is going to get mad at you."

"Kufufufu. Well if it isn't little Fran." Mukuro chuckled again.

"VOOOII! You know these brats, Fran!" Squalo shouted.

The young boy ignored the other in favor of his old acquaintance. "Ah! What is the perverted pineapple master doing here?" Despite his words, Fran still looked emotionless.

A vein popped on Mukuro's temple. "Insolent little brat. It looks like you need more training from your master."

"Nufufufu. Calm down little brother," Daemon interjected. "We have more pressing matters at hand."

"Oh no~! The idiotic melon big brother is here too," Fran said in mock horror, yet still in his usual monotone.

A vein popped on Daemon's temple this time. "Hmmm~ Sounds like the little froggy hasn't learned to keep his mouth shut. Shall I help teach this lesson?"

"Guys, take care of this later! We have to find Tsuna," Giotto interrupted, glancing back repeatedly at the Varia's leader, whose temper was visibly rising.

"Giotto's right," G agreed. "Let's get going."

"But I'm so tired," Lampo complained. "Can't we wait for her back at her room?"

"Oh! Does anyone know where Alaude and Kyoya-kun went?" Asari asked suddenly.

"Extremely not good!" Ryohei shouted.

"Don't worry," Knuckles said soothingly. "Those two are more than capable of taking care of themselves."

"They'll probably find Tsuna first at this rate, so let's _go_," Giotto urged.

A shot fired and the group looked around to see a bullet imbedded into the doorframe, smoking a little, and turning back they were met with the sight of a very pissed Xanxus.

"Get lost scum, before I kill you all." The crimson eyed boy glared menacingly at the group.

"How dare you threaten Primo/Pres!" Gokudera and G shouted at the same time.

"Not now!" Giotto hissed. "Sorry for bothering you, Cousin. We're going now."

The blond Student Council President, Asari, and Knuckles all ushered the rest of the group out of the room before they could anger the Varia leader and captain any further.

The leader of the Varia waited for a second before calling out to the hidden brunette. "Oi, Sawada. They're gone."

"Oh thank god," came out muffled before the door slid open and the brunette came out. "I thought those idiots would never leave. Thanks Xanxus-san, Everyone. I guess I owe you for this one. I'll try to pay you back soon, but right now I've got to find another hiding place before Hibari-san and Alaude-san come in here to investigate. Later."

Xanxus merely nodded in acknowledgment and returned to his previous action of studying the crimson liquid in his wine glass, watching the brunette leave from his peripheral vision.

Tsuna immediately blended into the shadows of the forest the moment she made it outside, but her intuition flared again and she was barely 20 feet from the office building. She just knew that it was the two people she wanted to meet the least, as there was zero to none of a chance that she could evade them.

'_Crap! How am I going to make it out of this one? There's only so many places that I can hide!_' The rest of Tsuna's thoughts were cut short when she was suddenly yanked into the air and a hand clamped down over her mouth, muting her shout.

"Be quiet, Dame-Tsuna. Or they'll find you."

'_Why is it, that my life has now come down to me needing a demon to save me?_' Tsuna mentally sobbed. '_And how did he even find me! I was sure that I hid my presence!_'

"There's no way that someone as pathetic as you could hide your presence from me, Baka-Tsuna," Reborn muttered into her ear.

'_Enough with the adding of insults to my name!_' Tsuna shouted in her head, fully aware that Reborn knew what she was thinking.

And as if to prove her point, Reborn smirked. "Not even in your dreams, Dame-Tsuna."

Yeah.

This was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't worry, there is more to come! I'm sure you're all still curious about what Luce used to sway Tsuna's decision of spending the week with Reborn, and I promise that it will appear in the next chapter! After all, her day is <em>far<em> from over! ;)**

******I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are lovely and motivational!**


	8. Chapter 8 Secrets

**Sigh. Sorry for the extra late update. My nephew just got the snip snip (aka circumcision), and he's been a little...fussy this whole week. But good news! I'm already halfway done with next chapter! I had a huge bout of inspiration and all of the reviews (over a hundred, yay! I'm _so_ happy! XD) got me really motivated, so even though I'm half brain dead from lack of sleep and proper nutrition, I was able to spin out something!**

**Thank you Ayz283, TheFeyRa, AoKuroUsagi16238, SasoLOVE111, TheLazyOtakuWithTooMuchTime, mad31lina, Once-upon-a-saturday, Kichou, Kanberry, Kildosad, xXScarlatto-OokamiXx, ezcap1st, Dreamless-Sleep777, ROFL123, and kuroitsubasa24 for your wonderful reviews!**

**And thank you everyone else for your adds and favs!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8 Secrets<p>

Tsuna giggled sadistically as she finished up tying off one last knot. '_This will be the ultimate trap. I can't wait to see Reborn suffer when he sets this off_.' She grinned evilly. "Muahahahahahahahaha."

After the two had somehow managed to escape all of Tsuna's old friends the brunette decided that she would head back to Reborn's dorm room. Since Reborn had another meeting, Tsuna had convinced the teen to go on his own since she wanted to start preparing dinner. This wasn't totally a lie, she had prepared dinner just like she said she would (she just had to warm them up later), but the true reason she wanted to go back to the dorm alone was so that she could set up the ultimate prank.

Tsuna looked over her work from where she stood by the front door. It was a long system extending from the entrance, all the way down the hallway. She was careful not to extend too far, since she didn't want anything going into the rest of the dorm.

The brunette smirked again as Luce's words floated back through her mind.

'_If you stay with Reborn, then you can finally get a chance with your revenge for everything he's put you through so far…You'll have a _whole week_ to pull the ultimate prank on Reborn~…_'

Needless to say, the moment Tsuna's stay with Reborn was finalized, she started planning out a week's worth of tricks that she was going to play on the raven haired boy.

But for now, she needed to get out of there before Reborn came back. There was no way that she wanted to be in the same room as that guy if this plan worked out. After making sure the little 'kill switch' was in place in case she got back first, Tsuna walked away and out of the building, making her way toward the center of the Northern Forest so that she could hide out and have some much needed alone time.

She hadn't had some nice alone time in a while.

'_Ever since Reborn barged into my life_,' Tsuna mused. '_Well, at least I get some good old solitude here._'

"Tsuna."

Or not.

"Giotto," Tsuna responded evenly.

Though she appeared to be relaxed, the blond knew very well that the brunette was ready to make break for it at any moment. "Let's talk."

"Let's not." Tsuna stood up and hopped onto the branches of the nearby trees, heading further into the forest.

"No one else is here, but us," Giotto tried to reassure the girl as he followed on the ground below.

"Doesn't matter," Tsuna replied bitterly. "You're obviously on their side."

"Tsuna, you know I just want to help."

"Then you shouldn't have let them come," the brunette snapped.

"They just wanted to see you for a bit."

"Send them a postcard next time."

"Tsunayoshi, that's not how you should treat your friends," the blond said sternly.

"Ieyasu, that's not how you're supposed to treat _your_ friend," Tsuna repeated his tone, but in a mocking matter. "You know about what happens every time they get too close, and yet you _deliberately_ shove them in my face. Aren't you the one who said to 'get over my past'!"

"I said get over, not forget everything and everyone involved! You know they didn't mean for any of that to happen. They had absolutely no say in it!"

"Well it did happen, so I'd like for all of you to just drop it and let me get over it in my own way. This isn't like Gokudera's allergy to Bianchi's face, and it's not going to be solved if you just keep throwing these things at me. If we're not careful, I may end up hurting them, or even…" Tsuna stopped hopping through the trees and stared off into space at the thought of the worst that could potentially happen.

"Tsuna, I told you before, didn't I?" Giotto said softly. "I will always be there to protect you, even if it's from yourself."

Tsuna shrugged and sat down near the base of the branch so that she could lean on the tree.

Giotto sighed. "Well, in any case, I didn't come here to ask you to talk with them. I'm here to keep you company and tell you that I would help you stay away from them if that's what you really want."

Tsuna stared at the boy suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. "What's the catch?"

"No catch. I really just want to help you." Giotto smiled a little sadly. "I told them that they should wait a little longer and that you weren't ready. I should have pressed my point more, because now you're running away and can't even stay in your own room without fearing the worse."

"That and they split into teams again didn't they?" Tsuna deadpanned.

"Yup!" Giotto chuckled. Tsuna was the only one who could read him so easily, but it was the same for the reverse as well. Giotto knew Tsuna better than anyone, even more than her own parents. "By the way, who are you staying with? I know you didn't stay in your own room last night, but you didn't go to any of the student council members."

Tsuna groaned and slammed her head against the trunk. "Please don't make me think about it any more than I have to," Tsuna groaned. "Then again…I wonder how my trap worked out. I'm sure that person should of gotten back to their room by now. Muahahahaha, I hope that person got hit by everything, though I'm sure he managed to dodge a few."

WHAM!

Tsuna was sent skidding face first across the forest ground several feet below.

"Tsuna!" Giotto shouted in alarm and ran over to check on the poor girl.

"Dammit all to hell!" Tsuna yelled suddenly as she sat up like she hadn't just done a head plant from a branch ten feet off the ground. The only indication that she had suffered any injury was a slight red mark on her face. She twisted around and narrowed her eyes in a (not very) menacing glare. "Reborn!"

"Chaos, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn smirked and leaned against the tree in the spot that Tsuna had been moments before he had kicked her off of it. "You should know better than try to ambush the likes of me."

Tsuna gaped. "What! You mean you evaded _all_ of my traps! The hell!"

Reborn was severely tempted to roll his eyes at this. "You left a wire sticking out so that you could deactivate every single one of your traps in case you got back to the room before me. Did you honestly believe I wouldn't see it?"

Tsuna harrumphed and turned away. '_I knew I should have gone with the window entrance instead of a deactivation wire,_' she grumbled to herself.

"Reborn, stop knocking Tsuna around like that," Giotto scolded the other male, his hand still on the brunette's shoulder.

Reborn was unaffected by the other teenager. "I'm her tutor. I can do whatever I want to her."

…

"EH!"

* * *

><p>"I think I'm gonna go die under a rock now," Tsuna mumbled miserably with her head resting on the dining room table.<p>

Giotto nodded solemnly as her patted the girl's back.

"Yeah, I've heard from Dino that Reborn's a ruthless and Spartan like tutor. Some don't make it out with all their limbs intact," Knuckles said in a morbid tone.

Tsuna buried her head in her arms and burst into a fit of tears.

"Really? Of all the things you could have said, you had to go and say _that_?" G demanded incredulously.

The raven haired teen held his hands up defensively. "What, it's true."

Tsuna's wails became dramatically louder.

"Don't worry Tsuna. I'm sure there's _some_ way to revoke his decision. Right, Alaude?" Giotto tried to sound comforting, even as he threw the platinum blond a desperate and pleading look.

Tsuna paused and looked up at the older teen with watery eyes.

Knowing that the only person he'd ever willingly give into was staring at him with big watery eyes (the only time you were ever able see them nowadays), he kept his own shut and his head angled toward the floor for good measure. "No. Only the Sky Arcobaleno has the ability to retract the others' choice."

Tsuna's head fell back into her arms as she burst into even louder wails, rivers of tears pouring out from the side.

"That rule is definitely a doozy," Asari sighed.

"If the Student Council Members or the Arcobaleno Association decide to take on a student, said student must oblige until their tutor decides that they have taught them everything they saw fit to teach," Daemon recited.

"Who knew that the rule created to help students and prevent the fifteen of us from being harassed all the time could be abused in such a way," Giotto agreed.

"I don't think they ever considered that the person picked to be the student would be so unwilling. I'm pretty sure that almost all of the female population of this school, as well as a good portion of the male, would kill for this position," Lampo mused aloud.

Tsuna head shot up as she gasped. "Oh mi gosh! They're all going to kill me! Myyyy liiiife is ooooooveeeeer~!" The brunette wailed. "Damn you Reborn!"

The other sic males shot the green haired teen a stern/threatening glare before trying to thik of a way to comfort the girl.

"Damn it! And I was trying so hard to remain unnoticed," the girl, now weary from all her crying, was reduced to just tears streaming down her face as her chin rested on the cool wood of the table. "By the way, how did you guys manage to give your siblings the slip?"

"Well~ We told them to go stake out your room to see if you would come back tonight. And I left the specific instruction for them _not_ to enter your room," Giotto explained. "So that means…"

"Ryohei is probably waiting in your kitchen."

"Kyoya's taking a nap on your bed."

"Nufufufu, Mukuro is on the couch with Chrome somewhere nearby."

"Lambo is running around and has probably broken a few of your things."

"Takeshi will probably be sitting with Ryohei-kun."

"And Hayato is probably yelling at all of them to get out and to stop disrespecting your stuff."

Each brother answered for their respective sibling.

Tsuna's eyebrow twitched. "I'm expecting you guys to cover all the fees for the destruction that is ensuing in my room. Erg." Tsuna groaned a little and pressed a hand to her head. A few unwanted memories had resurfaced when she had imagined the destruction.

"Tsuna," Giotto started in concern as he reached out to place his hand in the brunette's shoulder, but retracted when she flinched away.

"Sorry, I need to leave," Tsuna mumbled as she stood up. She sent the group a crooked smile and a half-hearted wave before she walked out of the room.

"Guess it was too early after all," G sighed.

"Who could blame her though?" Giotto ran his hand through his hair.

"Kidnap, torture, near death bullying, and betrayal," Daemon listed off.

"Not to mention that, that really bad traumatic case resulted from her hanging around our siblings as well as the rest of us," Lampo added.

"But I know that she misses them a lot," Knuckles interjected, folding his hands together on his lap.

"Perhaps it would be wise if we sent them back early," Asari mused out loud.

"I dunno… They seemed pretty determined to see her this time," G said wearily.

"It's not helping matters that Tsuna is staying with that _Reborn_ while your siblings are here," Giotto said, emphasizing the Sun Arcobaleno's name in contempt.

"Though, that could just be your jealousy talking, Nufufufufu."

The blond blushed. "Oh, shut it. I know the rest of you don't like it either."

* * *

><p><em>Tsuna looked around. She was surrounded by darkness, except for a watery image in front of her, it was almost like a floating pond. Looking through the image she saw the familiar outline of her home as well as her younger self. Her vision changed so that it was like she was looking out of her younger self's eyes, yet she could still feel herself standing in front of the image.<em>

"_Sorry, Tsuna," Her father rubbed the back of his head, "I wanted to hang out, but I have something else I have to do. Can we play later?"_

_She smiled. "It's okay papa. I'm fine."_

'Lies. I'm not fine,'_ Tsuna thought._

_The scene changed again. She was now walking with her parents._

_"Oh no!" Nana called out suddenly._

_"What is it?" Iemitsu asked._

_Little Tsuna merely looked up curiously, with a little concern mingling in as well._

_"Dear, that friend of ours has a special gathering tonight."_

_The blond man grimaced a little. "Are you sure it's tonight? I thought it was next week."_

_Nana shook her head. "No it's today, I'm sure."_

_Iemitsu sighed, but nodded. He crouched down and smiled a little in front of his little girl. "Tsu-chan, do you mind coming with us to this party instead?"_

'I don't want to. You're leaving again tomorrow. This is the only night left for us to be a family.'

_But little Tsuna smiled sweetly for her father. "It's okay."_

'It's not okay. It's _not_ okay. _It's not okay_! Why can't you see the truth? Why can't you see behind that mask of a smile? It's so fake!'

_The colors splashed together and the scene settled onto another memory. This time it was Giotto and G in front of her. _

'_Sorry Tsu-chan, I forgot that I said I would come over today and told one of my friends that we could do a project together," Giotto apologized. "But we're free tomorrow.'_

_The younger Tsuna just smiled brightly. "It's fine."_

'No. Please… Please see through my lies,' _Tsuna begged. _'It's not fine. It hurts. Please…'

_But the boys waved and walked away._

_The scene changed again, Tsuna could tell that she was a little older._

'_I'm so sorry Tsu-chan! Are you sure you'll be fine all alone?' Nana asked worriedly._

"_I'm fine, mama," the younger Tsuna replied easily with a smile._

'Fake. It's all so fake! Why can't you see it!'

"_You're such a good girl, Tsuna,"_ _Nana said cheerfully, ruffling her daughter's hair. "I'll be back in a few hours. Make sure you take care of yourself." Mama waved and walked away._

_The colors became distorted and the scene changed again. Now Tsuna was standing in front of a door with her hand raised ready to knock. But the voices inside made her freeze._

"_Why do you even put up with that brat, Giotto-kun?" A voice she didn't recognize asked._

"_I hear about that girl from my sister," another voice chimed in. "They call her Dame-Tsuna because she's so useless and can't do anything right."_

"_She's such a crybaby," another new voice added._

'Why aren't you speaking up, Giotto? This hurts so much. I don't like it! Please make it stop.'

_Little Tsuna ran away before she could hear any more of those hurtful words._

_It was now a few months later and little Tsuna and Giotto were sitting on her porch. Little Tsuna was smiling brightly despite the turmoil within._

"_You've become so much stronger Tsu-chan," Giotto's voice resounded. "I haven't seen you cry for a really long time now."_

_Little Tsuna just nodded in response._

_Giotto smiled a little wider. "I'm glad. I never knew what to do when you started crying."_

'I know. That's why I stopped crying in front of you. But can't you see? I'm going to burst. I can't hold in my tears forever. These fake smiles aren't going to last much longer…'

_Her sight blurred like paint being mixed together on a canvas in slow motion, allowing her past and present thoughts to come together._

'They're never going to see. My mask is to strong and they are too blind. They'll never see the truth. I don't like it. I don't want to be alone like this. Why are they all so blind?'

_Time moved forward at a normal pace again and the little Tsuna was now seven (almost eight) years old. She was running through the forest near her home, rubbing her eyes as she blindly wove her way through the trees._

'Can't cry. Just have to hold out a little longer. Just a little longer, till I reach-'

_Little Tsuna broke out into a clearing, where a small and shallow lake lay isolated in the forest, a few tears escaping through the corners of her eyes. But she wasn't thinking about her hurting heart or the reason for why she was hiding from everyone right now, as her attention was diverted to the person standing in front of her. It was a boy a few years older than her, but what was strange was that she couldn't see the the boy's face. Perhaps the sun was too bright, or maybe her memory was blocking him out._

"_Who are you?" Little Tsuna asked; momentarily forgetting her woes._

"_Leon."_

_The answer was a quiet murmur to Tsuna and she was sure that that reply wasn't quite in order. There was a small conversation and questions in between, but perhaps it wasn't all that important._

_And then everything started to fade. _

* * *

><p>Tsuna blinked and looked around, trying to bring herself back to reality. It had been a long time since she had last thought of that person. Remembering that she was in Reborn's room, Tsuna made to sit up, only to freeze as she spotted the pair of yellow eyes staring down at her from the bedpost.<p>

"Hiiiiiiie!" Tsuna shrieked, backpedaling herself off the other end of the bed.

"Is there a problem, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn called out as he leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. He had woken up a little while earlier today so that he didn't have to deal with the possibility of Tsuna shrieking at him as s wake up call.

Tsuna sat up quickly and untangled her legs from the covers. She ran behind the other teen and pointed shakily at the creature that had startled her into a near heart attack. "Snake!"

Reborn raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the creature. "That's not a snake Baka-Tsuna. That's my partner, Leon. He's a chameleon." To prove his point, Reborn walked over and allowed the small lizard like creature to crawl on his finger so that he could hold him up in front of the girl.

Tsuna narrowed her eyes suspiciously, thinking that there was a chance that the male may sick that strange creature on her at any moment. But when neither made any move, she slowly inched closer so that she could get a better look at the small green lizard.

Leon tilted his head to the side as he observed the human girl before him. He was rather curious, since his master didn't normally bring other human females into his dorm, let alone his room, so this girl must be special in some way. Leon decided that the girl was harmless and that he liked her. His tongue darted out as he licked the girl in a show of affection, causing the girl to flinch a little and his master to frown the slightest amount.

Tsuna giggled a little and reached out to stroke the chameleon's head with her index finger. "Ah. He's cute. You're a lot better than a snake. I'm sorry for mistaking you as one."

Reborn huffed and lowered his hand so the small creature could climb down. "Of course he's better any and all other reptiles."

'_That isn't what I said, but okay~._' Tsuna sweat dropped a little. It's not like she completely disagreed anyways. Something told her that that small chameleon had a lot more than what meets the eyes. "Funny you should pick that name though," Tsuna said somewhat offhandedly as she pulled out her uniform.

"Why's that?" Reborn called from the kitchen.

"Well, I was just thinking that it was a coincidence that the name of your partner is the same as an old friend of mine." Tsuna exited the room and walked over to the fridge to get started on breakfast.

Reborn frowned curiously behind the girl's back. "Old friend?"

"Yeah. I was running to my hideout back in my old home town and he happened to be there. We ended up hitting it off and he became my best friend, though I kept him a secret from everyone else. I always felt like he was an angel or something, and if I told anyone else about him, then he would disappear. Actually," Tsuna set down a pan on the stove and looked out in a daze as she paused, in deep thought.

She didn't notice her forced companion studying her.

"I don't think his name was actually Leon. It was something else but I couldn't say it properly, so I gave him that nickname. I can't remember how I came up with it though… Oh well," Tsuna snapped out of her musing and got back to work.

Meanwhile, Reborn just watched the girl in front of him. Her words were stirring up old memories that had long since been forgotten.

Did he actually know this girl?

But she wasn't familiar at all.

The black haired teen frowned again.

Just who was Sawada Tsunayoshi?

* * *

><p><strong>Hmmm, and the mystery thickens! Dun dun duuuuuun~<strong>

**So how was this chapter? To your liking I hope. I was trying to mix in a little humor so that it wasn't all drama. As for Tsuna's trap, well I wanted to let you guys imagine whatever you thought would be the best outrageous, over the top, and ridiculous trap that would never work on Reborn, for yourself! ;)**

**I'll make a deal with you guys, if I can get 20 or more reviews, then I'll release two chapters this week. A little work for me, but I like the challenge and it's not impossible.**

**Please tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9 Four of a Kind

**Okay, like I promised, I shall be updating twice this week! Thank you for the reviews! That note was actually kind of a test to see if anyone actually read this. Haha, sorry ^^". Though, some of your review had me kind of confused. At first I was just going to ask all of you what 'skip beat' was, but then I was like 'silly me, that's why we have the internet'! And after looking around at some...strange things that popped up when I googled it, I found what I think you were all talking about. However, despite the curiosity that all of you have instilled in me, I must prevail and not read it, or I shall be side tracked an unable to bring myself to finish my chapters until I finish reading the story.**

**Special thank you to: AoKuroUsagi16238, Ayz283, Lumoa, Dalriada, Hammanop, runwithanime, mad31lina, xxYuunaxx, Once-upon-a-saturday, Twelfth Legion, XFranLover666X94, xXScarlatto-OokamiXx, kuroitsubasa24, anon, gor not gore, Stalker Of Reactions, Kichou, Difficult1305, tazdevil, and herseybarrules! It's thanks to you guys that I'm not only updating on time, but I'm also putting out another chapter in the next couple of days!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9 Four of a Kind<p>

Tsuna forced herself to breathe deeply as to quiet her ragged panting. She had been running for a few hours now, trying to stay away from all of her old friends. But the sheer numbers were against her, not to mention that all of them were quite fit.

"This is getting out of hand," Tsuna muttered to herself as she peeked through the trees.

She could tell by the movement of the animals a short distance off to her left, that her pursuers were catching up and that if she didn't move now, she'd definitely be caught this time. With a burst of speed, Tsuna ran through the trees and broke out into the clearing behind the office buildings. However she had made the fatal mistake of paying too much attention to the group behind her to notice the ambush waiting in front.

"Shit," Tsuna hissed as she glanced around, looking for an escape route. She had been surrounded.

"Tsuna, we just want to talk," Yamamoto said calmly, holding up his hands to show that they weren't going to do anything.

Gokudera looked at the girl pleadingly, while G, Asari, Knuckles, and a surprisingly quiet Ryohei moved forward cautiously as well.

"Grrrr. Dammit! I didn't want to have to use this," she nearly shouted. The brunette raised her arm as if to throw something to the ground, her hand glowing orange. Her limb swung down and there was a burst of dust clouding the air all around them, making it impossible to see each other and the girl they thought they had finally managed to corner.

* * *

><p>Reborn was walking out of the office building, having walked out of the finally finished Arcobaleno meeting and heading back to his dorm. His plans halted though, when he spotted six figures running toward the other side of the office complex. He recognized the group being of three of the student council members and their siblings. Knowing that wherever they were running to, had something to do with the strange girl, Reborn decided to follow. Not necessarily to help, but to at least gather a little more information about her.<p>

He peered around the corner, making sure that he hid his presence, and was able to see that the six had been able to successfully corner the girl. Reborn watched as one of the younger siblings, the brother of the one with the flute fetish, walked forward and say that they only wanted to talk to the girl. But the brunette had a surprising response.

"Grrrr. Dammit! I didn't want to have to use this," she said loudly. Then an orange flame coated her hand and she threw it to the ground, creating a smoke screen that covered her movements as she _flew_ up to the roof of the building he had just exited.

Reborn smirked. '_Interesting. So she's one of_ those_ students._'

He climbed into a secret elevator that he had discovered years ago, and went up to the top floor, before taking the stairs to climb onto the roof. Reborn had long since discovered the secret passages lining the school and used them several times in the past to benefit himself, either to avoid (also called escape, not that Reborn would admit it) the ridiculous crowd of fan girls (who didn't seem to know the meaning of personal space) or to gather large amounts of blackmail on the student body and staff. It's amazing what you could find out or listen in to when people think they're alone. It's also a little strange how many people talk to themselves/speak their thoughts out loud when they don't think anyone else is around to hear them. They spill more secrets than they probably remembered that they were even keeping.

The girl didn't notice him as he opened the door and leaned against the adjacent wall. "Yo, Dame-Tsuna."

"Hiiiiiie!"

Reborn watched as she predictably freaked out by jumping up from shock, only to slam into the railing above her head. He smirked. For some reason, there was a lot more pleasure and a sense of accomplishment when he freaked her out like that so easily. If it was anyone else, it would have annoyed him and made the other person seem incredibly weak. But this girl was…different.

"It-t-t-t-t," Tsuna muttered as she rubbed her head where she hit it in an attempt to ease the pain, wincing a little when she initially touched the tender spot.

Reborn cleared his thoughts so that he could focus on the situation at hand. "I've said this already, but shouldn't you be more aware of your surroundings if you're running away from someone?"

"Wha-! You-! Dammit Reborn!" The brunette shouted angrily.

But Reborn just continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Also, I'm pretty sure that flame users aren't allowed to use their abilities out in the open like that, unless they have proper supervision from a qualified instructor or if they have special permission, which is usually visible as part of the school badge or some other accessory. Not to mention that if they have said accessory, then it should be worn out in the open so that others can identify the flame class and rank."

Tsuna froze. "How did you…?"

"You weren't as discrete as you thought you were."

Tsuna just stared at the boy, trying to figure out what was going through his head as well as what her next move should be. But Reborn didn't look like he was going to make a move either until the brunette did.

Finally Tsuna rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh and reached into her pocket, pulling out a small silver pocket watch with short chain. The Vongola Crest was carved on top around an orange gem in the shape and place of the bullet. There was also the same gemstone dangling off the other end of the chain with a silver coin with and S stamped out hanging next to it. She held it up so that the boy could see it a little more clearly. "I have permission to use my sky flames, see."

Reborn's eyes sharpened. "Oh? You have more than just permission to use your flames. I believe that, that's an Imperial Topaz, is it not?"

Tsuna shrugged.

Reborn smirked, though there was no humor in his smile this time. "From the cut and the clear quality of the stone as well as the letter hanging off the other end, I can tell that the person who assigned that watch to you valued you as someone of a high status among your peers. I can also tell that you have a very strong flame of an even higher purity." Reborn dropped his smirk and stared at the brunette girl, a serious aura pervading the area around them. "From what I know, there are only three students in this school and one student at one other academy with that stone imbedded on their pocket watch. That's only four people out of the hundreds that attend these two schools. And up till today, I only knew who held three of them… Just _who_ are you, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna sighed and scratched her head with her free hand as she turned the pocket watch around so that she could look at the gemstone. "I knew you were more trouble than you were worth," she muttered to the stone. She sighed again before turning back to the raven haired teen in front of her. "Honestly, I wouldn't know, Reborn. When they gave this to me, they said that this was to show other flame users what category I was in and how powerful my flame could potentially be compared to theirs. But I've made a point to never show anyone, since it would be a hassle to have bullies using their flames as well."

Reborn frowned. "Why _don't_ you use your flames? In fact, why won't you fight back at all?"

"I'm not supposed to," Tsuna responded evenly. "They'd get hurt."

Reborn shook his head. "You too kind for your own good." He turned around and started to leave.

"Hey! That's it? Where're you going?" Tsuna demanded chasing after the boy. "I thought you were going to give a big ass lecture about how I could fight back without actually hurting them, or that as one of the four S class sky flame users I should be able to gain all of their respect, or some crap like that! Oof!" Tsuna's rant was cut short as she ran into the older teen's back when he stopped without warning.

Reborn smirked, this time with actually amusement. "I didn't feel like wasting energy with something like that on you and more than that, I'm hungry and I want an espresso, so get moving lackey."

A vein popped on Tsuna's temple from his sudden shift in moods. "I'm not you lackey, dammit!"

"You already agreed to do all the cooking for me for now on," Reborn pointed out.

"You tricked me!" Tsuna yelled, throwing her hands up into the air.

Reborn reached up and tugged one of his curly sideburns, looking thoughtful. "You know, it's almost ironic that you ended up with that gem."

Tsuna almost fell over from the blunt change in behavior again. She settled with slapped her head and grumbled out, "and why on earth is that?"

Reborn pretended not to notice the brunette's attitude and continued. "Topaz is one of the twelve breastplate stones of the High Priest and is referred to in the Book of Exodus. The breastplate stones are considered sacred to twelve mighty angels who guard the gates to Paradise. Imperial topaz is used to: Encourage self-realization and confidence; Impart strength to quiet wild emotions; Banish bad dreams; Bestow charisma on its user; Draw love to its wearer; And protection against envy, disease, negative magic and sudden or untimely death. Combined with tiger eye, topaz will bring wealth and money. It also is supposed to have healing properties like stimulating the appetite, aid in nervous exhaustion, and activate life force and metabolism"

Tsuna gaped at the male in front of her. "And you know all of this because…"

But Reborn just smirked and walked away. "Because I'm Reborn and I'm the best-" the door slammed shut before bouncing open again, "in the world."

Tsuna's eye twitched. "Stupid, bipolar, demon Reborn!"

* * *

><p>It was finally the last day of the week that siblings of the student council would be staying at the school, and Tsuna was…<p>

Pissed.

All her traps and attempts to gather blackmail this week had failed. She hadn't been able to successfully prank, injure, or gain any sort of revenge on the demonic teen in any form. Not only had her traps failed to pull through, but several of them had been turned onto _her_ instead, thanks to Reborn no doubt. Tonight was the last night that she was going to have to stay with the demon and Tsuna was ready to give up.

She grumbled darkly as she viciously chopped a radish in half. It wasn't just the lack of revenge that was getting her upset. No. It was also the fact that Reborn had taken it upon himself to wake her up every morning since the fourth morning on. He had kicked her out of the bed the first night before deciding that he wanted to hit her out of the bed with a strange and extremely heavy green mallet the other three mornings. Needless to say, Tsuna was sporting several new bruises on her side from the sadistic morning routines.

Hours of planning and all her painstaking effort placed into making up and setting up all her traps and whatnot, all to waste with little to no effort on Reborn's part. He didn't even look like he was trying and he always made sure to point out all of the flaws in her plans as well as herself as he did. Apparently several years with the most vicious, manipulating, and genius type friends did not mean that any of their abilities rubbed off onto her. Nor did the dumb luck that a few of them had.

Tsuna placed the knife down and sighed. She really was useless, wasn't she? She was about to reach for another utensil, so that she could continue preparing their dinner, but paused as several short knocks echoed through the door.

'_Strange. People don't usually come around this time and those that do just burst down the door. Besides, Reborn isn't even here right now. Should I answer or just wait till they go away?_' Tsuna contemplated silently. '_Right now no one knows I've been staying with Reborn or that he's become my tutor, so I haven't been getting any extra unwanted attention. Then again, it might be really important and Reborn will be upset that I didn't take a message or something for him. Hmmm…_'

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, please answer the door," A muffled voice said, cutting through her musings.

Tsuna frowned, but wiped her hands on her apron as she went over and answered the door. On the other side stood a man in a suit, nothing really abnormal about him other than a mafiaish aura.

The man held out a black envelope with a red seal stamped on, holding the flap closed. "You have an assignment from Nono. Please take care of it as written. Your usual exit shall be ready for you at the recorded time."

Tsuna nodded and took the envelope, closing the door after a small thanks to the man for delivering the message. She sighed as she walked back over to the kitchen with the letter in hand.

"I should have known that they would know I was staying here," she muttered to herself.

She broke the seal and took out the folded piece of cream colored parchment, the black ink carefully scrawled out in elegant handwriting.

The assignment was for tonight. Her target was a small group sent by the Estraneo Famiglia. She was to leave the school grounds at 23 hundred hours (Military time for 11:00 PM) and return by five hundred hours (5:00 AM). The order was to take them out. None of them were allowed to survive.

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><p><strong>Yup, I have left you yet another thing to ponder. <strong>Anyways, we're now dipping further into the mystery about Tsuna and her past and you guys have learned something rather shocking about her that may not make sense right now, but please be patient. All shall be answered in due time!<strong>**

******Also! Do not fret! The tenth gen shall be coming back with more screen time! But you must be patient! Please don't review about how you wanted to see more of them, because I _swear_ that they will be returning with a bigger part and a longer stay! But as they say,patience is a virtue! **

**Also next chapter will have more of Giotto. But as it was, this chapter seemed like it sounded better if I had just ended it here instead of continuing and making this chapter extra long.**

**Thanks for reading! Please Review!**


	10. Chapter 10 Into the Rabbit Hole

**Dun, duh-duh duuuuuh~! (Random jamboree, cheer, cheesy/corny music thingy)**

**Yay! The promised second update for this week! Just to warn you, this chapter kind of skips around a little. Time is passing a little faster as we delve into the mystery that is Tsuna!**

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><p>Chapter 10 Into the Rabbit Hole<p>

Tsuna closed the door with a soft click before glancing down the hallway to make sure no one was following her before heading off the farthest gate from the four school divisions. Tonight she was working on a joint job with another academy under one of her alias's, the elusive white rabbit. So naturally, she was garbed in all white. The hoodie on her jacket had stupid ears flopping around on top and a stupid ball of fluff as a tail on the back, her mask in the shape of a white rabbit, and her white boots had faux fur lining around the top. It was a wonder how she remained so clean when her jobs could get so messy.

The 'White Rabbit' was her least favorite alias, but it was the one that held the most fear and power in the mafia underworld. She only wore the stupid outfit _once_ because her other one still needed a number of rips repaired, and all of the sudden everyone thought she had been around for ages. No! It was a stupid replacement outfit given by a stupid group of idiots who thought the stupid thing looked 'cute' on her. Tsuna had vowed that they would eventually rue the day they stuck her into the ridiculous monstrosity of a getup. However, due to its popularity, the 'freelance' assassin/hit-woman White Rabbit had stuck and gathered a large number of requests.

Tsuna reached for a secret door hidden under by moss, needles, and other leaves. She climbed inside the bunker and headed down the hall. After passing several other doors, she finally reached the room she needed. Inside was a short roundish man in a black suit, tinkering with some new gizmo of his.

"Giannini-san," Tsuna called out.

The man jumped a little, but turned around with a wide smile. "Ah! Usagi-kun! It's nice to see you again! I have your ride ready for you, so you can just go ahead and head over to hatch C."

Tsuna nodded and headed out to the directed room. Giannini had never met 'Sawada Tsunayoshi', only the masks that she wore in front. Only one person knew who was behind those masks. It was a condition that the two of them came up with when Tsuna was first enrolled into Vongola Academy. Tsuna was unwilling to see her old friends, but that didn't mean she didn't care for them anymore. In fact, she wanted to guarantee their safety more than she valued her own freedom. So in exchange for staying in the academy willingly, Tsuna was given information about potential threats to her friends and then sent out if they were dangerous enough. Of course, she had to take care of a few other jobs as well, so that others wouldn't become suspicious and use her friends against her. But the majority of her jobs dealt with her taking out any and all threats associated with her companions.

Today's job was actually very beneficial to her, since the Estraneo had already caused one of her closest friends, as well as his two companions, a lot of pain. She could never forgive herself for being so useless and unable to help them when they were kidnapped. But now she could finally get revenge for them, by taking out the remnants of that retched famiglia.

Tsuna hopped onto her motorcycle, specially built for her by Giannini, and took off into the night.

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><p>Reborn's gaze swept the room carefully. It was quiet…<em>too<em> quiet. However he felt no mal intent, so that meant that the brunette hadn't set anything up. Speaking of the strange girl, where was she?

Dinner was set out on the table, carefully covered and still warm. So she had only left a little while ago. Hopefully, the letter she left near his meal on the table would be able to explain things to him.

_I'm going out for a while. Don't know when I'll be back. Made dinner and I'll be back to make breakfast. Don't wait up._

_See ya,_

_Tsuna_

'_Well, that was helpful,_' Reborn though sarcastically.

He tossed the useless note aside and was about to head into his bedroom when a flicker of movement caught his eye. Upon closer inspection Reborn found that the movement came from a black piece of paper caught in the vent. The piece of paper turned out to be the remains of a horribly familiar looking corner of an envelope. Someone had apparently burned the rest of the letter and left thinking that the flame would eat up the whole thing.

Did this belong to Tsuna?

But as far as he knew, only the members of the Arcobaleno got this type of envelope. It meant that it was a job for the true side of Vongola. Vongola Academy, just like the other two academies, was a cover for the Vongola Famiglia. The mafia.

How strange. Was the letter meant for him, but then Tsuna ended up seeing it instead and went off to confront the headmaster about it?

No. These orders were given directly to them.

So then, what was it doing here? He doubted that it was just a coincidence.

Reborn smirked. Well this just became even more interesting.

* * *

><p>"This is why I hate joint projects," Tsuna hissed as a knife imbedded itself into her shoulder, rather than the student from one of the other academies that had been sent to complete this job with her.<p>

"Tch, stay out of my way," the other kid growled and pushed the white garbed hit-woman away.

"Dammit, this is why I hate crowding with such week fools," Tsuna muttered. '_I've definitely spent _way_ too much time with Alaude and Kyoya_.' The now red stained assassin decided that she had enough of ducking and covering for someone else, so she lit her orange dying will flame in her palm and took down the rest of her opponents.

"You can all burn in hell," the girl murmured before she lit the safe house on fire, leaving behind all of the Estraneo famiglia members as she and the other kid walked out of the building. "Go before my patience snaps and I kill you too."

Not staying to listen to the arrogant teen's retort, Tsuna went back over to her hidden vehicle and drove back to school. The sun had already risen a good bit, which told Tsuna that she was cutting it close. She cursed and sped up. Giannini had explicit instructions not to let anyone in through the secret opening after their allotted time.

As she rounded the corner, Tsuna saw the gates were beginning to close. With another curse, the brunette throttled the bike, then at the last moment pulled it over so that both she and the bike were sliding on its side. Both were barely able to clear the door, slipping through what was left of the opening.

"Phew! That was close Usagi-san!" Giannini called out.

Tsuna didn't answer the man, merely getting up and righting her bike before moving it back to its appropriate parking spot.

But Giannini was used to this. He figured that the White Rabbit was really nice (since this person often brought him snacks and beverages), it was just that they were a little shy. "I guess the person they sent for this joint job held you back as well, otherwise you wouldn't have been nearly late."

Tsuna huffed a little in agreement, but her actions reminded her of her wound and she winced.

The round suited man frowned in concern. "You should get that checked out by Shamal right away Usagi-san! That looks terrible."

Tsuna nodded and walked out, holding her shoulder as to stem the flow of blood pouring out. But she had no intention of getting the perverted doctors help. Instead she went to the extra room, which was filled to accommodate her with medical and everyday needs for her use only, and took a shower before treating her wound on her own She placed her White Rabbit outfit into the hamper (someone would take care of it later), placed her mask on its hook in her cupboard (equipped with a lock), and got dressed in her freshly cleaned uniform. . It was getting late and Reborn was going to wake up soon, so she had to get back to his dorm room and start on breakfast so that it wouldn't seem too suspicious.

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><p>It was now several hours later and Tsuna was still trying to understand how she had landed herself in the worst position she could possibly imagine.<p>

She owed Reborn.

This was definitely not good. Not good at all.

Tsuna groaned and pressed her face into her hands. She wanted to drop dead, right then and there.

Apparently she had been able to make it all the way back to Reborn's dorm, just before he came out of his room. But then after he made some snarky insult and before Tsuna could retort with her own witty and abusive good-morning, she had passed out.

_Passed out_.

As in fainted!

As in left herself vulnerable to Satan's reincarnate!

She had expended more energy than she should have, especially since she ended up having to use her sky flames, not to mention her injury was taking its toll.

But that wasn't necessarily the bad part. No, no, no. The killer was that Reborn had taken it upon himself to tend to her, while she had (so he said) a high fever and a profusely bleeding wound on her shoulder. Reborn had also asked Luce to excuse the two of them from classes, since Tsuna wasn't in any condition to go. When she had awoken, Reborn hadn't asked a single question, just asked if she was alright and if she needed anything to eat or drink. However, the look in his eyes as he asked spelled nothing but torture and misery. If she still acted like her younger self, Tsuna was sure that she would have broken out crying.

Tsuna groaned louder, but decided to get out of bed. The least she could do was to make the teen his favorite cup of coffee. Even if she knew that he was going to force the answers out of her later, she was still moderately grateful for his help. After all, if she had fainted in class then Giotto would have found out and started freaking out and fretting over her in her dorm room with all of his friends in tow, instead of giving her the peace and quiet that she desired after her missions.

Then again…Why _hadn't_ Reborn asked her anything yet? Especially concerning her injury? When the brunette had awoken, she had noticed that someone had rewrapped her wound, so Reborn had to know about it. Tsuna also had a nagging suspicion that the teen could identify what had caused the wound as well. Yet he had asked her nothing!

Actually, speaking of her wound, it felt a whole lot better now. It felt like it was a few days old rather than the stab wound she had received earlier that day. If her suspicions were correct, then Tsuna wasn't the only one with a secret ability.

* * *

><p>So as it turns out, only Reborn, Colonello, and Verde were to complete assholes of the group, though Reborn was still a hundred times worse than the other two combined in Tsuna's mind. Colonello was obsessed with proving he was stronger than Reborn, and figured that one way to prove that he was better was to see if he could piss Tsuna off more than his rival. Reborn had responded enthusiastically by making his orders for the brunette more and more ridiculous.<p>

Verde was just as bad, but he competed in a different way…By seeing if he could use Tsuna to provoke Reborn. (You could imagine how this would cause further trouble for the poor brunette). Verde and Reborn amped up the competition when the inventor found out that Reborn had declared himself as Tsuna's tutor. When the inventor found out that Tsuna was struggling with a few of her subjects, the scientist declared that he would be able to teach the girl better than the raven haired teen ever could, so the study sessions were on and Tsuna was buried under an avalanche of study material.

However the other members of the Arcobaleno were actually pretty nice.

Tsuna could sympathize with Skull, considering how Reborn also treated the poor fool like his lackey, although the raven haired teen was definitely more abusive toward the biker than he was to Tsuna. Still, Tsuna hated Reborn and the fact that it irritated him even the slightest bit that she helped Skull gave her even more of a reason to assist the purple obsessed teen out.

Mammon was…Mammon. He was mysterious, greedy, and had a soft spot for sweet bean filled sticky rice cakes. He also seemed to have taken a liking to Tsuna since she would make his favorite treats and not only not charge him, but mix it among a range of other sweets when she served the group so that the others wouldn't know.

Luce and Fon were both deviously nice. They were both very kind and Tsuna usually enjoyed their company, but she swore that they were plotting something rather sinister and what made it worse was that Tsuna swore that their plans had something to do with her. But most of the time that she spent in the Arcobaleno Association's meeting room was with them.

Lal was another person Tsuna like to talk two. While their guy problems were a little different, Lal seemed to understand Tsuna's vexations over the irritating human/devil/demon/pain-in-the-ass called Reborn. Though Lal was technically Colonello's superior, the blond was still an annoyance for her as well so she and Tsuna were able to bond over 'their trouble with idiots' as Lal put it.

If she thought about it, Tsuna would be forced to admit (to herself and _no one else_) that she enjoyed her time with her eight seniors. A little over a month had already passed since her past friends' visit, as well as her mission, and Reborn had kept out of her hair for the whole thing (Though Tsuna had a feeling that he was just saving up all his favors for something big that she _really_ wasn't going to like). Reborn has also been surprisingly nice by keeping the tutoring thing from the rest of the students, making the excuse that it would be too troublesome for him to deal with the whining fan girls later.

Tsuna was still bullied on a regular occasion, but she was used to it so it was always pushed to the furthest corner of her mind. Giotto and the others still came over for dinner every night to check on her (remember she is back in her own dorm) and Reborn still broke in on a regular occasion since he didn't seem to be able to go a whole day without pissing her off at least once. By this time, Tsuna had taken up throwing whatever object was nearby at the time when Reborn pushed too many of her buttons.

But peace doesn't last very long for the little brunette. It was the last day of school for that week and Tsuna was in the meeting room with all the other Arcobaleno for lunch. And that day, the past decided to remind the brunette about her weakness and fear that she had hidden away so well that she nearly believed that she had gotten over it. And it attacked her with her biggest weakness, the one thing that helped keep her in the back of the other students' minds and what acted as a curtain, and a shield, between Tsuna and everything else in the world…

* * *

><p>Luce sighed. "Tsuna-chan, you have bruises on your arms again."<p>

The brunette gave the older girl a crooked smile. "I kind of mouthed off at them today. I was a little cranky this morning so I forgot to keep my mouth closed."

"If you're going to mouth off at them, then you should also fight back, kora!" Colonello called over from the couch.

"Though I hate to agree with that idiot," Lal crossed her arms as she turned her gaze toward the brunette, "most of us have seen how strong you are. It would be more than easy for you to take care of those worthless fools."

"If you pay me, then they could all have an 'accident'…" Mammon trail off ominously.

Tsuna shook her head. "Nah, I like staying in the background. I don't like attention."

"I'm surprised no one has noticed yet," Skull squawked, though he cowered a second later when a couple of eyes sent him a glare.

"Actually so am I, though I'm thankful they haven't." Tsuna smirked a little when Reborn redirected his glare at her instead. "I don't really have what it takes to have that sort of attention anyways."

"You're lack of self-confidence is so low, it's pitiable and highly laughable," Reborn quipped.

But Tsuna just shrugged. "I'm useless and I'm not pretty. Those students want someone they can admire, and that sort of person or people is definitely not me."

"You're just fine, Tsuna-san," Fon said gently.

"You know, dear," Luce said with a smile, "everyone else would be able to see just how cute you really are if you would trim your bangs." She reached forward to brush the bangs off of Tsuna's face for a second, when suddenly Tsuna jerked away.

"No!" Tsuna backed away rapidly. Her breathing sped up and her eyes darted all over the room, but she tried her best to maintain a calm front even as a tidal wave of emotions and memories started to replay before her eyes. "I-I…It's fine. I just- I just l-l-like them like th-that," Tsuna said quickly.

Eight pairs of eyes watched the brunette suspiciously. She was acting strange.

"Tsuna-san, are you alright?" Fong reached out to place a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, but she flinched away.

"F-Fine! Just fine!" Tsuna backed away even further. Her concentration seemed to be slipping away and she was starting to tremble violently. "Have to go. I have to go. Need to go." Tsuna muttered quickly. "Get away. Don't touch. Bad. Very bad. Didn't do anything. Need to leave. Gio. Find Gio." She turned around and ran away from the room, leaving a confused and very concerned crowed behind.

Line break

Giotto was in the middle of explaining his idea to take care of a troublesome club to the rest of the Student Council members when the door was suddenly slammed open.

Giotto jumped a little and looked up to see a panting Tsuna. He smiled a little. "Hi Tsuna, do you mind waiting a little? We're almost done-"

"Gio-nii…"

Giotto's eyes narrowed sharply. Tsuna only called him Gio-nii whenever she was _really_ scared. Now that he looked, Tsuna was shaking pretty badly. Something bad must have happened and reminded her of the past. Giotto got up quickly and pulled Tsuna into a tight embrace.

She immediately broke down. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Tsuna chanted under her breath as she clutched the blonde's shirt, her hands turning white.

Giotto hushed the girl and rubbed soothing circles on her back. "It's okay. They're not here. You're going to be fine, just calm down Tsu-chan."

"It hurts. It hurts. Make them stop. Please make them stop. I don't like it. Make it stop. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please stop." Tsuna was delirious. The memories of the past were clogging her mind, making her forget where she was.

"You're okay Tsu-chan. And I'm right here," Giotto reassured the girl, just like he did all these years. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll protect you."

Tsuna's grip tightened then went slack, and she fainted.

Giotto sighed and gathered the girl into his arms. "Sorry guys, we'll continue this tomorrow. I've got to take care of her."

"The chibi still hasn't gotten over it huh?" G asked gently. He stared sympathetically at the girl. But he already knew the answer to his question. After all, who would be able to get over an event like _that_ so easily? G was amazed that Tsuna could even come out in public, even _he_ wasn't sure if he would be able to pull off such a feat if that had happened to him.

"Gotten over, what?" Seven heads turned to see Reborn standing in the doorway.

Giotto glared at the other teen. "None of your business."

Reborn returned his glare easily. "You'll find that it is. I have a right to know about Tsuna's wellbeing."

"You shouldn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong," G growled. "The chibi's been through enough. She doesn't need anyone else to bother her about it, especially when the best thing is for her is to forget about the entire thing. We're the best ones to take care of this."

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? I find that ridiculous. None of you can be there for her every second of the day. Besides, I'm around her the most."

"You don't know anything!" G hissed.

"G, calm down," Giotto said softly.

Though he loathed the thought of telling the other teenager, he was right and there was the chance that Reborn could help Tsuna if Giotto wasn't there. He had already noticed that Tsuna spent most of her time outside of school with Reborn and his bunch, even if she hadn't mentioned anything. And even if he was slightly hurt, he knew he couldn't be selfish. Besides, if Giotto couldn't be there, then he _someone_ had to help the poor girl.

Giotto took a deep breath and turned toward Reborn. "Tsuna isn't exactly who you may think she is…"

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><p><strong>Yaaay! Longer chapter! Nooo! Cliffhanger! Sorry, but the journey has only just begun! You must wait for a few more days dear readers till the knot, that is Tsuna's past, starts to unravel.<strong>

**So how was it? Did you like?**

**Reviews are lovely!**

**Thank you for reading! Till next time!**_  
><em>


	11. Chapter 11 Shadows in the Dark

**Yay! Update on time! Thank you to Amethystgirl1943, Stalker of Reactions, Once-upon-a-saturday, mad31lina, R.N. Saints, SasoLOVE111, Lumoa, AoKuroUsagi16238, Ayz283, Mew Mew White Tiger, Mochaloca, and Real Simple for your wonderful reviews! They really are the best motivational methods!**

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><p>Chapter 11 Shadows in the Dark<p>

Tsuna glanced around the darkness. It seemed that she had two choices today. One floating, vertical, foggy pool held a darker memory; one that was colored with a lot of red and seemed to promise nothing but pain. The other held the view of the pond located around her secret hiding spot from her childhood.

Yeah, not so tough of a choice.

Tsuna walked over to the brightly colored memory and peered inside, the same sensation as before taking over.

"_Who are you?" Little Tsuna asked._

'Oh. So it's a continuation from last time._' Tsuna mused._

_The boy stared at the younger brunette for a bit before finally answering. "My name is -" The name was silenced, as if the boy had suddenly been muted._

_Little Tsuna scrunched up her nose. "-?" The name was muted again, but it appeared that the younger version of herself was having a difficult time pronouncing the other's name._

_The boy's chuckle confirmed Tsuna's suspicions._

_Little Tsuna blushed. "Sorry, I'm so useless. All my classmates call me Dame-Tsuna because of it. Maybe I can think of something else to call you." _

_The little girl crossed her arms and scrunched her eyebrows together fiercely as she tried to think of something. The boy studied the girl curiously, as he hadn't met a little girl who acted such a way before._

"_I got it!" The brunette exclaimed a moment later. "I'll call you Leon!"_

_Tsuna could sense the boy raising his eyebrow questioningly._

"_My papa and Gio-nii and his family are Italian, so I know a little bit too! And since on our first meeting you're wearing a yellow shirt and because you have really, really, _really_ strong aura you made me think of a lion! And lion in Italian is Leone, so if we just take off the extra 'e', we have Leon! Cool nickname, right?" The girl's eyes were sparkling and she practically radiated stars._

_The boy was hunched over a little bit in his attempt to smother his laughter. She was truly an interesting girl if he could bring this sort of reaction out of him in the first few minutes of meeting him. He calmed himself and straightened, looking back at the girl who was staring at him expectantly. "You can call me what you want, since you're the one who thought of that."_

"_Yay!" Tsuna cheered, jumping up and down with her hands in the air. She held out a hand with a bright smiled when she had finally stopped. "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, but lots of people call me Tsuna, and my mama, papa, and Gio-nii call me Tsu-chan!"_

_The boy shook the girl's hand gently. "It's nice to meet you Sawada-san-" _

"_Tsu-chan! You can call me Tsu-chan!" The brunette interrupted._

_The boy continued anyways. "But don't Japanese usually bow when they greet someone."_

_Tsuna tilted her head curiously. "But you're Italian too, right? That's why I chose Italian for your nickname."_

_The boy frowned a bit. "Why do you think that?"_

_The little girl placed a small index finger to her chin in thought. "I'm not really sure. Sometimes I get this feeling and it has always been right. So when I tried thinking of a name, I just got this feeling that you were like my papa and Gio-nii, so I thought you were Italian too. My mama calls it my intuition. Am I wrong?"_

_The boy shook his head hesitantly. "You're right."_

_Tsuna smiled brightly. "See! My intuition was right again! Say, I don't see you around town. Did you just move here?"_

_Leon shook his head. _

"_Hm~? So you've lived here for a while? You must be like Kyoya, and like to be alone most of the time." Little Tsuna suddenly looked guilty. "I'm sorry. You must have come here to be alone too, huh?"_

_Leon turned to look at the pond. "It's fine."_

_Tsuna smiled and told the boy about herself and her friends. Leon just sat next on the grass, listened and watched. The girl's expressions were amusing to say the least and she seemed to have a calming yet cheerful aura to her. The boy who didn't seem to feel comfortable around other people, didn't seem to mind her presence. But Tsuna could sense that he was curious about something._

"_You implied earlier that you came here to be alone, and you came here crying," the boy had finally decided to speak out his curiosity. "Why?"_

_Little Tsuna looked down at the blue water and hugged her knees. "Oh…well…I felt like if I wasn't able to finally cry, that I was going to explode and break apart. And I can't cry in front of Mama, Papa, Gio-nii, or anyone else, so I came here."_

"_Then why don't you?" Leon asked softly._

_The little brunette looked up with a smile, surprising the other. "Because when I met you, it was like all the clouds were blown away by a bright and powerful sun." _

_The boy smiled a little, then switched to a smirk. "You sure have weird analogies."_

"_What? That's mean Leon! And don't use big words that I can't understand!" Tsuna exclaimed, waving her hands in the air._

_But Leon continued to smirk._

'Curious how I can see his smirk whenever he's making fun of me,_' Tsuna contemplated. '_It's like my subconscious is either trying to tell me something or taunt me…definitely taunt me._'_

_Little Tsuna stopped pouting and turned to look at the boy with sad eyes. "I have to go now…Will I get to see you again, Leon?"_

_The boy seemed to ponder the idea for a bit before answering. "I guess I'll be here tomorrow if it's not raining."_

_The little girl brightened instantly. "Okay then! I'll come here every day at this time as long as it's not raining! Bye-bye Leon!"_

_The colors blurred together, as the same switching of scenes took over again._

_Now Little Tsuna was crying, her knees pulled up to her chest and her hands curled into fists at the corners of her eyes. The boy whose head she couldn't see was crouching in front of her with his arms folded across his knees. He reached out and poked Little Tsuna in between her furrowed eyebrows, startling her out of her misery._

"_I can't really understand your reason for crying this time," he muttered._

"_But Leon, I failed my math test again," Tsuna said miserably. "Mama and Papa are going to be disappointed again."_

"_But you said that they never get mad at you," Leon pointed out._

_Tsuna shook her head, her puffball pigtails swaying a little bit. "They never yell, but I can see it in their eyes. They always tell me to try harder and do my best but then at night, when they think I'm asleep, they talk about how they can't understand why I'm doing so bad. Everyone at school makes fun of me too."_

"_What about your friends?" The boy asked._

"_Takeshi-kun failed too, but everyone likes him a lot. Hayato-kun is a genius, but when he tries to tutor me I just get more confused. Everyone does a lot better than I do in school, but all of our classmates love them. I don't know why they hate me so much." Tsuna sniffled. _

_The boy just watched, as if waiting for something else to happen._

_Tsuna suddenly rubbed her eyes fiercely and jumped up with a determined expression. "This just means I have to try harder! I'm going to study really, really hard so that I won't fail the next test! I'm going to prove to my classmates that I'm just as good as my friends!"_

_As if the light had shifted, Tsuna could see the other boy smirk._

"_What! You don't think I can do it, do you!" Little Tsuna exclaimed, pointing and waving an accusing finger at the other. But her accusations were only half-hearted. She knew that the boy wasn't mean like that._

_Leon shook his head and stood up, reaching over to ruffle the brunette's soft hair. "I think you can do it, but I don't think you should care what everyone else thinks. If you're going to do something, do it for yourself. Don't let the darkness taint you like me."_

His last few words were a little less than a whisper, but before Tsuna could ask him what he meant a muffled shout broke across Tsuna's dream. More noises occurred and the pool started to evaporate into nothing until Tsuna was thrown back into reality, accompanied with a nice headache to boot.

* * *

><p>Reborn stared down at the unconscious girl in front of him. He sighed softly. This was the second time that he had to look after her through the night. But he couldn't really blame her. This idiot led a tough life. His thoughts paused as all of his attention focused on the brunette when she whimpered a bit.<p>

"I'm…sorry…I'm…sorry…' Tsuna repeated a few more times, fidgeting in her sleep like she was trying to make herself smaller and shy away from something.

Reborn frowned a little. He never had to watch over someone before like this. Keeping an eye on a prisoner or someone he was supposed to be guarding, sure. But never looking after someone while they were in such a fragile state. When she had passed out from her shoulder injury he had a better understanding of what needed to be done. But this was a mental and emotional problem. He couldn't just apply new bandages and give her some medicine for this one. For the first time her could think of, Reborn was floundering. He had never, _not_ known what to do before.

At least he didn't think so…

Tsuna whimpered again and her hand twitched. Reborn switched his gaze to her hand. Perhaps he should…No, that was absurd, whoever heard of a hitman doing such a tender action. But then again…No, just the idea was ridiculous. Reborn was going to get a CAT scan after all of this for even _thinking_ of doing something like that.

A tear rolled past the girl's bangs and down the visible half of her face. She repeated her mantra of apologies again, though her words were more slurred this time.

Reborn's arm twitched. Then with all the hesitation in the world, he slowly raised his hand and grasped onto the brunette's. Tsuna's fingers curled around his instantly, like she had been waiting for someone to do so all along, making the raven haired teen's heart skip a beat… But why? Reborn puzzled over his body's reaction as Giotto walked back into the room and sighed.

"Still out of it, huh-" The blonde's sentence ended abruptly when he spotted the two holding hands. His eyes narrowed and her glared at the other male. "You can leave now, you know," Giotto said coldly.

Reborn smirked. "What? You jealous, lover boy?"

Red splashed across the blonde's face, but he didn't drop his scowl. "I've been with Tsuna nearly my whole life, so I know how to take care of her best."

The raven haired teen tsked. "But if you hadn't noticed already, which I highly doubt since you seem to know just about everything about her to the point of obsession, Tsuna has spent more time with me than she has with you this past couple of months."

"That's because you keep kidnapping her!" The Student Council President exclaimed.

But Reborn just shrugged. "These past few weeks she came on her own. Sometimes I didn't even need to fetch her."

"That's because she knew you'd come get her if she didn't and didn't want to deal with the trouble," Giotto countered.

"It looked like she wanted to talk to Luce, Lal, and Fong to me." Reborn purposely left out Skull since it was an insult to his pride that the brunette was more willing to talk to that purple idiot rather than Reborn, himself.

"Then she wasn't really spending time with you," the blond pointed out.

Reborn's smirk turned absolutely condescending. "Not to mention that she's been cooking all my meals for me."

Giotto twitched a little. "Tsuna's…been cooking for you?...Why?"

Reborn didn't bother to answer. Sometimes the best form of torture came from one's own imagination.

"You're blackmailing her, aren't you!" The blond shouted.

"Shut the hell up!"

A pillow flew over and smacked Giotto's face roughly.

"About time, Dame-Tsuna. I was beginning to think that you'd never wake up." Even though his pride was baseless, Reborn couldn't help but feel smug that it was the idiot blond that the girl had thrown the pillow at.

"Son of a gun," Tsuna muttered and pressed a hand to her forehead as she sat up. "I have one bitch of a headache… What happened?"

"You passed out," Giotto supplied. "You've been out of it for a whole day. But at least it's the weekend, so you don't have to worry about missing classes."

"Must have fallen down a set of stairs or somethin' after that, then…Dang," Tsuna climbed out of her bed and headed toward the closet for a change of clothes before going to the bathroom to change.

"Well, I really want to stay," Giotto started again, "but the Student Council has to meet with the High School Division Principal in a little bit, so I have to get going."

Tsuna stuck her head out and waved. "Alright then, thanks for all your help. Will you be stopping by for dinner or something later?"

"Maybe, we'll see. Bye Tsu-chan," the blond waved and left the bedroom.

"Bye!" Tsuna called after the boy before retreating back into the bathroom. "You can get your ass out of my dorm now too, Reborn." She came out of the restroom and headed over to the kitchen where the other teen was waiting.

"I was looking after you all night again, be grateful brat," Reborn quipped.

Tsuna pulled a sweater over her head and looked around with an eyebrow raised. "_You_ took care of me last night? I wasn't aware that hell had frozen over so soon."

Reborn snorted to himself, but said nothing. He watched the girl move around the kitchen, gathering the ingredients for whatever she planned to cook before finally asking the question that had been bugging him all night. "You remember everything, don't you?"

Reborn studied the brunette's hiccup in her movements, noting the tenseness in her body movements and the almost unnoticeable grimace.

"You're going to have to be more specific if you want me to understand what you are asking," Tsuna finally replied. She wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what the older teen was implying, as well as where his question had stemmed from. She cursed Giotto and his loose tongue.

The older teen was well aware that the brunette knew _exactly_ what he was talking about, but he decided to play along anyway. "That kidnapping experience about seven years ago that the idiot blond told me about. You have all of them convinced that you have forgotten all about it, and they categorized that as your mind putting up an emotional barrier so that it could protect itself. But I think you're pretending that you've wiped that incident from your mind so that you can protect all of them instead. Just like how you act like a weak useless girl, so that they won't suspect that you're protecting them in another way and so that they think they are protecting you instead. It seems to me that you're just a wolf in sheep's clothing, whom has everyone convinced that you're nothing more than an innocent little lamb."

Tsuna placed the kitchen utensil she had been holding gently on the counter before looking up at the other teen. "We all have secrets, Reborn. Leave me, my life and my privacy." The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before the brunette picked up where she left off in her cooking. "Besides, it isn't a memory I like to relive if I can help it. And in any case, if you're so interested in my secrets, don't you think it would only be fair if you were willing to share some of your own?" Tsuna placed a cup of espresso in front of the teen and picked up her own drink.

"I'm a hitman."

Tsuna spat her drink out in shock as she choked. She coughed a bit to clear her lungs a little from the sudden attack before speaking. "Huh?"

"I'm the strongest hitman in the world," Reborn reiterated casually, taking as sip from his mug as if he hadn't said anything wrong. "I work for the Ninth Boss of one of the most influential mafia famiglias in the world as his personal and most trusted assassin."

Tsuna could only gape at the boy. "Why are you telling me this?" She exclaimed when her brain started working again.

Reborn shrugged. "You just said you would tell me your side of the story if I told you a few of my secrets."

"I never said that!" Tsuna protested.

"You said that if I told you a few of my secrets then you would tell me a few of yours. Now hurry up and tell me before I shoot you." Reborn held up a lime green gun to emphasize his point.

"Gun. You have a gun. Oh my god you have a gun," Tsuna panicked. It's not that she had never encountered one before, but the situation and the person who started it had sent such a shock to her, that the poor girl had started to revert to her true old Dame-Tsuna self.

Seeing that the brunette was going into shock, Reborn lowered his gun which transformed and revealed itself to be Leon.

"Cha-...Cha-..." This was the final straw for the number of shocks and surprises that Tsuna could deal with in a day, and she fainted.

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><p><strong>Yeah, ha ha ^^" so, you aren't going to learn about Tsuna just yet. But it's coming! Reborn just has to work it out of her.<strong>

**...Hm...It also seems that Giotto isn't getting a lot of time either. But I'm developing Tsuna's and Reborn's relationship first. So those of you waiting for him will have to be patient. I apologize sincerely. m(_ _)m Tee hee! I just learned that one!**

**Reviews are loved!**


	12. Chapter 12 Discreet to a Fault

**Sorry for the late update. My grandpa has fallen seriously ill, so I've been really down and spending a lot of time with him. Please don't ask what he has, it's personal and I haven't quite accepted it yet. I hope you can understand. **

**But thank you SasoLOVE111, mad31lina, tazdevil, Stalker Of Reactions, Silvereyedfreak, InK4bLoOd, Ayz283, J. Shizzle, Kichou, Once-upon-a-saturday, Marhaya, and dream-of-silent-death for your wonderful reviews. They really kept me going and gave the the motivation and courage to keep writing.**

**I can't promise that I'll be updating as often, but I'll get them out as soon as I can and I promise not to put this story on hold. Thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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><p>Chapter 12 Discreet to a Fault<p>

Tsuna had long since learned that waking up from a fainting spell was unpleasant and would usually be followed soon after by a headache (the severity depending on how much strain her mind or body took before she passed out) and the aches of wherever or whatever she hit when she collapsed. This time was no different. So when the brunette slowly clawed her way back to consciousness, before she even had time to remember who had caused her this soreness, she wasn't surprised by the amount of pain that registered in her brain.

To her, the biggest problem this time lay in the situation waiting for her after she should open her eyes. Normally, Tsuna would end up in the nurse's office or the care of one of her older brother figures, which ensured her safety and the amount of privacy that she desired. However, the foreboding presence hanging around the bed told her that Reborn was waiting to continue his interrogation the moment she woke up.

She had two choices right now. One) Pretend to be asleep until she actually manages to fall unconscious again. Or Two) Wake up and face the music. With option one, Reborn would no doubt figure out that she was not actually unconscious. On the other hand, option two meant giving up giving up a piece of herself to someone who was only a little more than a stranger. Then again, option one would most likely end with her getting more bruises since Reborn would probably beat her or something along the lines for trying to trick the likes of him. But~, option two had her revealing a weakness that she had hidden from the others and she wasn't entirely sure she was emotionally ready to disclose that secret quite yet.

…

Maybe she could just make a break for it…

WHAP!

"Hiiie! I'm up!" Tsuna shouted as she bolted out of the bed, only to trip over the covers and land flat on her face on the unforgiving hardwood below. She groaned and rubbed her nose as she looked around. To her shock and utter amusement, the brunette turned around to see that Reborn had been on the receiving end of Luce's scolding, and that the older woman had just whacked the raven haired boy atop the head with a rolled up magazine. "Heh. You just got owned, Reborn."

The teenage boy retaliated by firing paintballs at the brunette with a Leon gun.

"Itai!" Tsuna shouted as she sprang to her feet. "Itai! Itai! Itai! Knock it off you demon!"

"Reborn, I thought we just discussed about not straining Tsuna-chan," Luce warned.

The hitman clicked his tongue, but allowed his partner to return to his normal form. "About time you got up, Dame-Tsuna. I was getting tired of you pretending to be asleep."

The brunette twitched. So she had been caught after all. That would explain the demonic and utterly sadistic gleam in the male's eyes that promised her a lot of pain once the other woman left his dorm. So she did what any normal sane person would do in her position; She jumped out the window and ran for her life.

Or, at least she tried. Leon transformed into a rope and lasso, and pulled the girl in before she could so much make it a foot away from the window.

"Oh no you don't," Reborn said firmly as he reeled the brunette back in.

Luce sighed. "Reborn, if you didn't give her that look, then poor Tsuna-chan wouldn't have felt the need to run away. And what did I say about being gentle with her?"

Reborn just turned away.

Luce sighed and shook her head with a small smile before turning back to Tsuna, who was hiding behind the far side of her desk. "Tsuna-chan, I actually came here to invite you to a party we'll be holding in a couple of weeks."

Tsuna raised her head a little higher so that she had a better view of the older girl. "Party?"

"Yes! Reborn's birthday is coming up and all of the Arcobaleno are going to celebrate together," Luce said cheerfully.

"Luce-senpai, I'm not a part of your committee," Tsuna deadpanned.

The older girl giggled. "Yea, I know. But you're Reborn's special buddy and the rest of us consider you our friends."

"I don't think that me going would be a good idea though," Tsuna persisted.

"Hmm? Why?" Luce tilted her head a little.

"Because the only gift I could think of to give this guy is something along the lines of a bomb in attempt to get rid of him," Tsuna pointed out.

Luce giggled again. "Oh, you're so silly Tsuna-chan. And you don't have to worry about that. Colonello, Skull, and Viper do that every year too!"

"And they haven't succeeded?" Tsuna questioned incredulously. "Damn." The brunette dropped down in time to avoid another round of paintballs.

Luce raised a warning eyebrow at the raven haired male before returning her attention to the brunette. "I also heard that your birthday is coming up as well!"

Tsuna, who had been sticking her tongue and pulling down her lower eyelid at Reborn, froze and blew a raspberry. "That's a lie."

"I'm pretty sure I heard it was the day after Reborn's," Luce pressed on.

"Nope. I don't know anything about a birthday," Tsuna argued.

"I think it was Ieyasu-kun who told me," Luce continued, acting as if the younger female hadn's said anything.

Tsuna shook her head. "I'm telling you, you heard wrong. My birthday isn't anywhere near wherever you may think it is."

"Then when is it?" Luce asked sweetly.

"Guess and I may tell you." Tsuna leaned on the desk.

"Well then, is it in January?"

"No."

"February?"

"No."

"March?"

"No."

"April, May, June, or July?"

"Nopety, nope, nope, and nope."

"How about August or September?

"Nope."

"October?"

"N.O."

"Then could it be in November?"

"Nada."

"So it's December!"

"Nuh-uh." Tsuna shook her head for the last time.

"That's all the months there is you nitwit," Reborn disputed.

Tsuna crossed her arms defiantly. "I know you idiot."

"Then when could your birthday possibly fall on?" Luce asked.

"Never. I have no birthday," Tsuna huffed, only to fall back when Reborn shot her square between her eyes.

"Then we'll set the party up so that we can celebrate for both of you," Luce informed the duo, before waving and leaving the room. She had decided to let her friend's abuse slide this one time.

Tsuna groaned and sat up. As she looked around the room, she noticed the lack of another female presence. "Eep!"

Reborn smirked. He was finally allowed to continue his interrogation now and by the squeak the younger student had just emitted, Tsuna had realized this as well. He fired and lodged a bullet next to the window where the brunette had been eyeing with the clear intention of trying to escape. "Don't even think about it."

"Hiiiiie!" Tsuna backpedaled away from the smoking hole as fast as she could, resulting in her hitting her head on the closet. "It-t-t-t-t."

"Start speaking," Reborn commanded.

Tsuna looked up and sighed. "Could you at least wait till I make a cup of tea or something?"

Reborn pondered a bit before finally giving the girl a short nod and allowing Leon to change back into his original form.

Tsuna muttered incoherently as she walked back over to her kitchen and started making tea, but some words like 'stupid Reborn' and 'lack of privacy' came through more than once. Finally she placed a cup in front of the boy and sat down across from him with her own mug of tea.

"Since I'm not really sure where to start, why don't you ask me a few questions, and then I'll answer them the best I can," Tsuna paused to take a sip of her beverage. "And to make this a little more fair for me, I'm going to limit the number of questions to five per day, and they can't be too general."

Reborn smirked. "Fine. I'll play your game for now."

"Alright, then shoot." The brunette folded her hands in front of her as she waited for the male to form his first question.

Reborn studied the girl, trying to figure out what he wanted to know first. "I know that you were kidnapped seven years ago, but apparently the others don't know by whom or why."

"That counts as two questions," Tsuna informed the boy.

Reborn gave her a nod. "I am aware."

Tsuna pursed her lips before answering. "I was kidnapped because of my parents' affiliation with the mafia. I think the offending famiglia was a surviving strain of the Estraneo Famiglia, whom had taken a friend of mine a year earlier."

Reborn's eyes narrowed. "Your parents are in the mafia."

"Yeah, my mom was an assassin and my dad works as the head of an outside organization to some famiglia. That's your third question, by the way."

"That was a statement. I wasn't asking you to clarify anything," Reborn argued.

"Nuh-uh! You were totally asking a question!" The brunette disputed.

"Was not."

"Were too!"

Leon transformed into a gun, which Reborn pointed at the other's head.

"That's cheating!" Tsuna shouted, staring at the gun wearily.

Reborn smirked. "I'm a hitman."

"How is _that_ an explanation?" Tsuna shouted indignantly.

But Reborn just smirked. "Now for my third question," the raven haired boy clicked off the safety when Tsuna opened her mouth to argue, "I can assume that they tortured you, maybe even experimented you and whatnot. So how did you manage to escape?"

Tsuna's eyes darkened. "I used my dying will flames and killed everyone there."

Reborn didn't blink. He was undeterred by such events, seeing as he was the best hitman in the world. Killing came with the job, but something bugged him about the darkness in her eyes. "How old were you?"

"I was kidnapped at the age of seven, but returned when I was eight."

Reborn's eyes narrowed the slightest bit. For a normal person, using their dying will flames at that age could turn into a disastrous event, especially without any previous training or if enraged. Killing wasn't really recommended for that particular age range either, though he had made his first kill at the age of five. "You were in their hands for a year?"

Tsuna shook her head. "Three weeks. And that, Stupid Reborn, was you`re fifth and final question for the day." She smiled a little and got up.

Reborn clicked his tongue in annoyance, but didn't argue. Instead he leaned back in his chair and continued to observe the girl in front of him for a little longer.

Tsuna placed her cup gently on the table again when she finally noticed the other teenager's eyes trying to bore holes through her. "What?"

"I'm hungry."

Tsuna deadpanned a little. '_So that intense gaze was for nothing_.' She sighed before answering. "Hi hungry, I'm Tsuna."

Reborn flicked the girl's forehead, with a satisfied smirk when she gave a shout, and continued like she hadn't said anything. "Make a big lunch for me, Dame-Tsuna."

"Why should I?" Tsuna picked up her cup again and took a nice long sip.

"One) because you promised when you were staying with me for that week while your friends were here, and two) because I didn't get to eat a nice breakfast since you were out cold from fainting."

"How was that my fault?" Tsuna protested. "You're the one who made me faint."

"You should be expecting the unexpected when you're with me Dame-Tsuna, and someone like you should always have their guard up anyways." Reborn said this pleasantly, like he was just talking about the weather.

"Bull crap! Other than that incident seven years ago, I have no reason to be extra suspicious of the world," Tsuna continued to argue. She couldn't really deny that she just needed to expect everything, when it dealt with Reborn.

"Well possibly not after that kidnapping seven years ago, but perhaps from the bullying incident nearly two years ago that sent you into a waking coma, or maybe because you're a hit woman for the school." Reborn fixed an intense gaze at the girl once again, so as to prevent her from looking away or lying. Shock flickered across the brunette's eyes for the shortest of seconds before her face shut down all emotions.

"If Giotto told you about the kidnapping thing, then I'm not surprised that you know of the bullying incident either. But what on earth makes you think that I would be an assassin for an academy of all things?"

Reborn didn't look away from the younger teen as he reached into his pocket and retrieved the small corner of the black envelope he found several nights ago. "This might have tipped me off."

Tsuna raised her eyebrow a little (though it was barely visible). "Pardon if I'm supposed to know what your hiding, but I'm not sure what a little piece of paper could possibly tell you."

"Well, considering I found this in my room that one night you didn't stay over during the week you were hiding out in my dorm, and the fact that his is the corner of an envelope that is usually delivering a hit order from the headmaster… I think it would tell me quite a lot, don't you?"

Tsuna smirked. "Haven't you heard Reborn? Colored envelopes are all the rage with students. The color is absolutely meaningless."

"Then, would you care to explain why it was burned?"

The brunette shrugged. "Maybe someone tried to burn their letter and it just so happened to fly through the ventilation system till is somehow got caught in the vent of your room."

"How do you know if I found it in the vent?"

"It was just an educated guess Reborn. For all I know, you could have found it in or near the window or maybe the doorway."

"But you were correct."

Tsuna clapped sarcastically. "Goody for me." She placed her hands on the table and stood up with a huff. "Now if you would excuse me, I'm going to go make something for us to eat before either you shoot me or my stomach eats me alive."

Reborn let the girl go. He would continue this conversation another time. He could force it out of her whenever he wanted, but it would be more amusing to wait and see how long she could hold out against his casual interrogation.

'_He almost found out! He almost found out! He almost found out!_' Tsuna shrieked inside her head as she walked over to the kitchen, trying her best to keep her blank face in place for when she turned back around. Tsuna really hadn't been expecting the other teen to be so perceptive and intruding. Sure he bugged her and forced her to do stuff for him, but she had always thought that he was some shallow popular kid looking for someone to push around without really caring what their target's life is like. To make things worse, she hadn't ensured that the letter and envelope had burned all the way before she left to fulfill her joint mission.

She pulled the ingredients she needed out of her refrigerator with a heavy sigh, only to pause when she felt movement on top of her head. She reached up and felt a small rough body nestling on top of her head. Using the side of a nearby pot, Tsuna was able to see that it was just Reborn's little magical green lizard.

"Hey there little guy." Tsuna rubbed the small creature's head and was pleased to feel it hum a little.

"Leon seems to have taken a liking to you," Reborn mused, almost like he didn't mean to talk out loud. He stroked one of his curly sideburns in thought as he watched the two interact.

Tsuna smiled a little. For some reason, she felt like that was a big accomplishment. She opened a drawer and started digging through the content, eventually pulling out a cute little apron. "Now where's my headband," she muttered as she glanced around the kitchen.

Leon shifted around a little and transformed into a green headband, pulling back the brunette's long hair, leaving only her bangs behind.

Though a little shocked at first, Tsuna smiled and stroked the transformed reptilian again. "Thanks, Leon!"

"Well that's a new one," Reborn muttered, the rare bit of shock still lingering on his features. "Leon has never transformed for anyone other than me."

Tsuna smiled. "Then Leon must think that I'm someone special."

Reborn locked gazes with the girl and it was like something in the air shifted, or perhaps inside of them. "Yeah…Maybe you are…"

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><p><strong>I'll leave you with something to squeal a little about. There is still a lot more to come though. <strong>

**Reviews are loved! Till next time!**


	13. Chapter 13 Shattering Mirrors

**My grandpa went in for surgery and they said so far he is doing great! I was so relieved and inspired by all your reviews that I was able to finish this chapter quickly!**

**I owe a great amount of thanks to Difficult1305, InK4bLoOd, Kichou, Night and Light Sky, Ayz283, Once-upon-a-saturday, hammanop, BrokenBlackCat, Stalker Of Reactions, runwithanime, SasoLOVE111, Mad31lina, AoKuroUsagi16238, xXScarlatto-OokamiXx, and Honoka-Chan! You guys really have been what was keeping me going these past few days.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 13 Shattering Mirrors<p>

The morning a few days ago spooked Tsuna. She didn't know why, but she knew that whatever had happened was a sign that a huge change was coming, and it wasn't going to be something she was going to like. Also, her hyper intuition was ringing like an obnoxious alarm clock, practically screaming at her to watch out for something that would change her life in a way that would cause her a great amount of strife soon after. These foreboding feelings haunted her and caused her to twitch at every strange sound and look over her shoulder constantly. It did not help that the handle had fallen off her mug this morning, causing her to spill her coffee all over the counter. Nor did the pounding rain that fell from the dark clouds looming overhead that foretold of a thunder storm, that would most likely take place later that night. All of these signs had set the brunette into high alert, sending her stress levels through the roof. If anyone was paying close enough attention, they would have thought that the girl had developed a rather severe twitch.

Conversely, these actions were exactly what led to her undoing. Tsuna had felt the need to check over her shoulder once again that afternoon and had bumped into one of the students. Sadly, it was one of the worst people the brunette could have run into.

"Sorry," Tsuna muttered quietly as she took a step back to go around the person.

"Like _hell_ you are," the snobby brat snapped, shoving the brunette roughly. "You ran into me on purpose didn't you Dame-Tsuna! You were just so jealous how much better I was than you, that you had to try and rub off some of your ugliness on me. Well, I've had enough! I'm so tired of this school letting in so many useless brats that don't have either the money or talent to be here!"

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at this. '_Pardon? One) I'm pretty sure that this is the first time that we've even been in the same three foot radius of each other. Two) At least I don't have to rely on flirting with the teacher to manage a somewhat decent grade. Three) It's not even _your_ money. Your parents are paying your way for you. I at least earn my own living, even if it is through my mafia dealings. And lastly, since when did you have to have a 'talent' to be here? This school is purely academic. The only 'talent' I can think of is the ability to use flames, but I know for a fact that this student, or her friends, aren't a flame user._' She took a deep breath and let it out silently. "I didn't mean to bump into you senpai. I just wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I apologize once again."

"Yeah right! Like I'm going to believe in a useless whore like you!" The older and sluttier girl yelled. The girl raised her hand above her head. "I'll teach you your place you ugly bitch!"

Tsuna tensed as the girl's arm swung down. She could see the girl curling her fingers with the intent of scratching the brunette's face. Tsuna closed her eyes as she resigned herself to her fate of cleaning up her cuts later and having to come up with an excuse for whoever was visiting her that night. But with a softer slapping sound and no pain on her persons, Tsuna opened one eye to see what had stopped the older girl from assaulting her.

To her shock, relief, and slight horror, the brunette realized that it was none other than Giotto. The blonde's eyes were narrowed dangerously and he had a tight grip on the wrist of the older girl that was clearly causing her pain, though she ignored it in favor of drooling over the male in front of her. Tsuna could have puked from the sickening look the older girl was giving her childhood friend.

"What do you think you are doing?" Giotto hissed as he released the girl in such a way that made her take a few steps back.

The older girl's blush, as well as all the other females' in the hallway, increased as they gazed at the boy. "Dame-Tsuna purposely ran into me and wouldn't apologize." She shifted a little so that her already exposed cleavage was a little more visible and put on a simpering look. "I'm so glad you're here Giotto-senpai. This girl has been causing all of us girls problems because she was just so jealous of all of us and none of the teachers are willing to stop her because she's been seducing them after school hours." The older girl's friends nodded and pretended to look disheartened. Each of them was also trying their best to catch the attractive blonde's eye behind their leader's back.

Tsuna had to snort at this. Like she would stoop so low, HA! It was more like the other way around. Most of the rich girls would do their best to seduce their male teachers since they didn't have the brains or motivation to get a decent grade. She continued to watch though, as Giotto's eyes became shadowed by his bangs.

The other girl shot a glare at Tsuna before turning back to the blonde to bat her long fake eyelashes at the boy with her hideous version of puppy eyes. "See what we have to put up with, Giotto-senpai? If only someone strong and powerful like you could take care of this trash for me, I mean us."

At this point Tsuna was starting to feel sorry for her older brother figure. If it wasn't for the fact that it would blow her cover, she would mouth off and possibly slap the girl around a little. At the same time, Tsuna couldn't help but feel a little amused. There was definitely teasing potential about this material for later on. However, right now she knew that the blond was about to blow his top. The dark shadow was still cast over his eyes, probably hiding his angered expression, but the brunette could still feel his rage rolling off him in waves.

"If you could help us with this girl, everyone would be _so_ thankful, Student Council Pres-i-dent." The girl broke up the boy's title in what she thought was a seductive manner. She didn't seem to be able to sense the danger in which she had thrown herself into so blindly.

"That is enough," the blond growled.

The older girl smirked victoriously at Tsuna.

"You are to have nothing to do with Tsuna ever again. Do you hear me?" Giotto said in a low and dangerous tone, glaring venomously at the older girl.

"Wha-!" The girl was completely shocked. "Why are you taking _her_ side?"

"Because she is my childhood friend and I will not tolerate anyone hurting her or making up such slanderous lies about her while I am around," the blond snapped.

Tsuna twitched.

"B-But I've never heard of this!" The older girl argued foolishly. Her groupie as well as a few students that had remained in the hallway to watch also made a few sounds of protest.

"That's because Tsuna-chan requested of us to stay silent of that matter," Asari said with a rare serious glint in his tone and eyes. He was followed by the other student council members, who walked up to join their leader with hard looks of their own.

Tsuna twitched again and flexed her fingers as if to keep herself from throttling a certain blond idiot.

"Well, since that's out in the open, then I should be free to jump in as well without her annoying complaints later." Reborn walk out from around the corner, closely followed by the other Arcobaleno.

"Reborn-senpai," the older girl said breathlessly in wonder. She had been admiring him from afar, but now that he was up close she had a clear view of just how handsome he really was.

But this time Reborn wasn't smirking. Instead, his eyes were narrowed dangerously at the girl. "This is not a request, this is an order to _all_ of you. Sawada Tsunayoshi is my student. If you lay a single hand on her, then you can expect to die."

Now past twitching, Tsuna clenched her hands into hard fists by her side. She was so pissed that she couldn't even sense the drop in temperature from the aura's coming off her friend and self-proclaimed tutor.

But she wasn't the only one. The older girl who had started all of the trouble was clearly angry and jealous beyond belief. But she knew that acting on her anger now would only bring her idols' fury down on her. No. She would plan out her revenge and take action later. With a shrill huff she spun around and stomped away, her loyal groupie in tow.

Giotto glared at the offending girl's back until she was out of sight before he turned with a considerably softer look toward his younger female friend. However, the look he could sense coming from her as well as her purplish/black and suffocating aura of anger prevented him from saying anything. He sweat dropped a little.

Suddenly a green bat appeared in Tsuna's hands and she tapped it threateningly against her palm. "Giotto~" Tsuna sang menacingly through her teeth and pissed smile.

"Er…Hi Tsu-chan," the blond said pathetically with a small wave.

A vein popped on the brunette's temple and the bat gained several nails sticking out of it at odd angles. "You _**idiot**_!" Tsuna raised the battle club above her head and punctuated her insult by attempting to slam the weapon against the blonde's head, only to meet the ground with enough force to create a small crater when he dodged.

"Now, now Tsuna. Let's talk about this calmly and without bone crushing weapons that could possibly leave someone, mainly me, in the hospital for several weeks," Giotto said, trying to placate the girl by holding up his hands in surrender.

But Tsuna wasn't having any of it. The battle club transformed into a mallet that had the suspicious wording 'ten tons' on its side.

"I'm going to kill you!" She swung the mallet down again. "Then I'm going to clone you!" BAM! The large hammer connected with the floor again. "Then I'm going to kill your clones!" SMASH! "Then I'm going to bury you alive and never speak to you again!" SLAM!

"First of all, that doesn't make any sense." The blonde ducked at the green mallet swung over his head at an alarmingly fast rate. "Second of all," dodge to the right, "you can't expect me to just stand and watch as some other girl tore up your face." Duck again. "Did you see those claws she called nails?" Jump back to avoid abdomen getting crushed. "She could have taken an eye out and wouldn't have cared!" Dodge left. "And I'm not the only one!" Dodge left. "If I hadn't stepped in, Reborn would!" Jump over mallet. "I just happened to be first!" Dodge backwards.

Tsuna panted, letting the mallet rest on the floor while she glared at the older teen. "Reborn never listens to me anyways, but I expected more from you. I wanted our relationship to stay a secret for a reason." The mallet transformed back into a chameleon who crawled up the brunette's arm and nestled into her hair as she straightened and ran a hand over her eyes wearily.

Meanwhile, Reborn watched the exchange smugly. He took a great amount of amusement and pride at the fact that Tsuna had gone after her blond friend instead.

"Isn't that your lizard, kora!" Colonello asked curiously as he watched the brunette try to pulverize the other blond.

Reborn shot a glare at the military boy for calling his partner a lizard. It was like Reborn calling Falco a pigeon. "Possibly."

"Oh my. I've never seen Leon change for anyone else, not even the rest of us," Luce commented. "How on earth did Tsuna-chan manage to get him to transform for her?"

"I'd like to know that too," the raven haired boy muttered. He smirked when Tsuna swung close enough to shave a few hairs off the top of the blonde's head.

"ARG!" The brunette shouted. "Hana was right! All men are just stupid monkeys!"

All the males deadpanned.

"Eeeeeeerrrrrg!" The brunette and her hands through her hair frantically, causing Leon to relocate to curling around her neck. "Idiots! Idiots! Idiots! Because of your idiocy and your lack of knowledge of women, I'm going to have to pay! What could have possibly gone through your minds that said it was okay to jump in? Do you know how vengeful and spiteful girls are! And since you all have your looks backing you up, those moronic girls aren't going to attack _you_ guys! No! Because you're the sweet prince charming and leader of Vongola academy," Tsuna clasper her hands together beside her head, pretending to swoon with big glittery eyes and batting her eyelashes, "the idol of every student in this school.

And you!" Tsuna turned around and pointed an accusing finger at the hitman. "You're the drop dead gorgeous, dangerous, mysterious, god damned dark night who every stinkin' idiotic girl dressed like a slut wants to go out with! And the rest of you guys are on the top twenty of whatever it is on their stupid list of hot guys in this school! ARG! Not only to I have to put up with their useless drabble during breaks, but now that useless information has taken root in my brain! This is all your fault! I finally managed to create an image where I could stay in the shadows and decreased all that stupid bullying to half, because it would be a pain and against my contract to fight back, of what it was before this prison they call a school and all of you had to go and ruin it! But now look what you've done! I have a giant target plastered over my head! But nooooo~! You didn't think of that, did you?"

Tsuna panted as she ended her rant, placing a hand over her eyes again. "Maybe, if I hide out in my room for a few weeks, this whole thing will blow over and everyone will forget that this ever happened… Who am I kidding. No doubt, she's the type to hold grudge for longer than she can maintain her manicure. I have as much chance of getting away as she does of getting liposuction and plastic surgery when she's older."

Reborn suppressed a smile. He was curious about a great deal of what the girl had mindlessly spilled while shouting her money's worth at her so called older brother figure, she also had him nearly chortling as well. She had the most hilarious analogies of anyone he's ever met. Though, he had a feeling that he had met someone like that sometime in the distant past. But he didn't put much thought into it for now.

"Tsuna, when I stepped in, it was because I wanted to stop all the bullying you put up with," Giotto said gently. "I'm sure that all those students should leave you alone now that you have not only the Student Council backing you up, but the Arcobaleno as well."

Tsuna raised her head and looked straight into the boy's eyes. He didn't understand. This was exactly what her hyper intuition was warning her to stop all day. She didn't know what would happen after this, but something that could potentially break her again was coming. Why couldn't he see that? Hadn't he heard of the saying 'hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn'?

"Besides," the blond smiled goofily, "I may have said you were important to us, but it's _your_ yelling that revealed how snarky you really are."

Tsuna's tolerance snapping was practically audible along with the several veins popping on her temple. "_None_ of you are allowed anywhere near my dorm this week, do you hear me!" She hissed.

Not Giotto and the others were frowning. "Tsuna, we need to be near you now more than ever."

Tsuna shook her head adamantly. "If you come anywhere near my room then I'll…" She glanced around, then her eyes landed and Reborn and she smiled viciously. "Then I'll tell Reborn about what happened that summer eight years ago."

The Student Council members visibly paled, successfully capturing the attention of the Arcobaleno and more importantly, Reborn.

"You wouldn't," Giotto spluttered.

"I would," the brunette countered confidently.

"Oh? Do tell," the hitman called out.

The blond president glanced over nervously.

"Now let's not be hasty, Tsuna-chan," Daemon said nervously.

"Yes, we only want what's best for you," Knuckles agreed hurriedly.

"Well your idiot of a leader," she jabbed her thumb at the orange eyed boy, "already ruined that. So do we have an agreement?"

Giotto shivered at the girl's triumphant smirk. "Fine. We won't go to your dorm."

Tsuna dropped her smirk and nodded. "Then I'm leaving. I need to cool off before I _really_ break something." The girl then turned around and left.

If only she knew exactly what was going to come. Perhaps then she wouldn't have allowed her rage to control her decisions, thinking that she could take care of herself and protect the others from the wrath of the other girl.

_If only_ she could predict the other girl's method of revenge, because nothing could compare to losing yourself a third time.

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><p><strong>So I'll leave you with that bit of cliffhanger to ponder over. <strong>

**Reviews are lovely and made for today's early chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14 When the Light has Fallen

**I talked to my grandpa a few days ago and he was joking and laughing (even though he shouldn't 'cause it caused him pain) and seemed alright overall! That combined with all your reviews just put me in high spirits and wa la! This chapter was completed!**

**Special super thanks to: Difficult1305, Kichou, Honoka-Chan, Kildosad, J. Shizzle, Mad31lina, hammanop, runwithanime, SasoLOVE111, BrokenBlackCat, Sasuna123, Noname-NN, Ayz283, brokenmaelstrom, dream-of-silent-death, xXScarlatto-OokamiXx, Meota Tsukiko, mangopudding, and Marhaya. Your reviews were great and provided the inspiration for me to get this chapter out as quickly as I could!**

**Thanks again! And a thanks to the fav's and add's as well! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>Chapter 14 When the Light has Fallen<p>

Tsuna ran desperately, trying with all her might to outrun the jeering and catcalls behind her. She picked up her pace as she rounded a corner, only to be knocked back hard when a book bag was swung into her abdomen.

"Oof!" Tsuna tumbled down. She ground her teeth to keep herself from making any other noise as she sat up and by that time the bullies had caught up to her.

The girl the day before sneered at the brunette, two of her friends (probably the most loyal of the group) stood slightly behind the girl as they glared at Tsuna as well. "I'm going to make you pay for humiliating me in front of Reborn and Ieyasu senpai."

Before Tsuna could make another attempt to run for it, two thuggish looking teenagers came out and grabbed her arms. The brunette ground her teeth, but didn't make any sounds indicating that she was in pain. She had been through a lot worse after all.

The older girl glared at her victim, allowing her anger, jealousy, and spite to boil through until she slapped the younger woman across the face. "Come on. Let's take this inside. I don't want to ruin my shoes with all this mud." She turned around and walked away, everyone else following faithfully.

The two thug pinned Tsuna against the far wall roughly. They had decided on using an empty classroom to carry out their plans.

"We get to do whatever we want to her after you finish right?" One of the teenage guys asked, to reconfirm their agreement as well as provide a little psychological torment.

"Yes, yes," The older girl said dismissively as she walked forward, her friends flanking her. "Now let's see. What should I start with?"

The girl smirked and kicked Tsuna in the stomach, making sure that it was the heel of her stiletto that connected. She smile grew when the brunette grunted in pain. The teenage guys let go of the brunette and allowed her to collapse to the floor. The leader then reached down and pulled Tsuna up by her bangs.

"Oh? So you actually have a set of eyes. I thought that maybe there would just be holes, since you hide them all the time. My mistake," her last two words came out angrily as she slapped the younger girl again.

Tsuna glared at the girl, trying her best not to hyperventilate. She was terrified and visions of her past kept flashing before her eyes, but she knew better than to show someone like this weakness. None of the bullies had ever touched her bangs before, believing that she was ugly and it would be better to leave them alone. She was scared. So scared. But she couldn't- no, wouldn't, show this sort of person any fear. Even though her heart was speeding up, and possibly beating irregularly, she would _not_ show fear.

"Oh~…I have an idea…" The older girl was back to her sickening sweet tone. She reached into the inside pocket of her purse and slowly drew out a knife.

Tsuna's eyes widened in horror. Of all the things to pick, the girl had to choose a knife. The _one_ thing that had caused her so much terror and pain throughout her life.

The older girl smiled maddeningly. "We can help you do a little touch up to your face."

"Boss, I don't think this is a good idea," one of the subordinates said nervously. Even they had not been expecting this sort of torture from their leader.

"Shut up!" The older girl yelled. "Who's side are you on anyways? Now," she turned back to the brunette. She fisted her hands through Tsuna's hair on the back of her head and reached around with her knife. "Let's give you a little trim."

With a sharp series of slashing tugs, Tsuna's waist length hair was cut in half. The knife also sliced her along her back several times from the older girl's violent movements, making Tsuna cry out in pain.

"Your bangs need a trim too don't they?" The girl started slashing again scraping the brunette's scalp, forehead, and nearly her eyes.

Tsuna cried out again and pushed the girl away, getting her arm nicked in the process. Knowing that head wounds bled the most didn't make her feel better as blood started to get into her eyes.

"Don't you _dare_ touch me!" The older girl shrieked. She swung the knife down and stabbed the brunette's shoulder. Then she proceeded to kick, scratch, and claw at the girl. "It's all your fault that the most popular people at this school hate me! If you were never here then this wouldn't have happened! You've only been an eyesore since you arrived! You should have never been born you ugly bitch!"

Tsuna fell to the floor once more. She was bleeding a lot from cuts all over her body and the knife was still imbedded in her shoulder. But even with those injuries and the tears that were pouring down from her past fears attacking her, Tsuna still managed to glare at the girl. "It's your own fault for making such a fuss over something so little. If you had just ignored me and continued on your way, then you wouldn't have gotten both Reborn and Giotto mad at you."

"Shut up!" The girl shrieked. She yanked the knife out of the brunette's shoulder and raised her arm to bring down the weapon in a possibly more fatal area.

But before she could start bringing the knife down, there was a loud pop and the knife went flying out of the girl's hand landing on the floor several feet away.

"Get away from her _now_."

Everyone but Tsuna looked around to see a severely pissed off Reborn. But Tsuna tuned them out. The visions of men in lab coats approaching her with their scalpels, needles, and other tools were flooding out of her memories. They were cutting into her skin. They were hurting her and telling her to sit still while they injected that liquid fire into her. There was so much pain. She was too weak to escape. She wanted to die, it hurt so badly. Someone, please rescue her. Someone…Anyone…

Test after test, but no one came. There was another little girl, much younger than Tsuna. Tsuna liked this girl. She was nice and helped clean up her wounds when they threw her back into the cage. She was screaming for Tsuna to help. But she was so tired…so tired…Blood splattered her. The girl was being ripped apart by the scientists. They made eye contact and the girl said she was scared of dying, even as the light left her eyes. Then Tsuna's vision went red and her eyes, hands, and forehead grew hot. But by the time she became fully aware of herself, the lab was painted red and corpses lined the floors. She was a monster. She killed all of the scientists and became a demon, but she couldn't even save any of the other children. She had failed. Now everyone would hate her. She would be left all alone. So she 'forgot' and she smiled. Everyone didn't really feel that bad, otherwise they would be able to see through her lie. But the mask stayed in place and she continued to smile.

Then a while after she had escaped, she could see her classmates and several other kids cornering her. They beat her black and blue, but they still had more. A middle school student come forward and cut her repeatedly with her own knife after all the kids had taken their turn of messing with her. Their insults and accusations were dancing across her mind.

If only she wasn't friends with the others. If only she wasn't so useless and ugly. Maybe then, they would have left her alone.

But they made her so mad. The shadow that had crept into her heart after the kidnapping was whispering in her ear, telling her to just kill them and get it over with. They were just cruel souls that preyed on other people's misery, that they were more evil than she for allowing their jealousy to overrun their sense of right and wrong.

But these sorts of emotions made Tsuna hate herself more. Maybe she should just be alone. She was a monster. She was tainted and impure, unlike her friends.

It hurt so much. Did someone stab her chest? She hurt all over, but they said this was her punishment for trying to be something she's not. She's not smart, pretty, athletic, or popular. She shouldn't have tried to be friends with the cool kids. Maybe those bullies were right, and her so called friend's only played with her out of pity. Why else would she be alone right now? No one was helping her. Giotto wasn't going to save her this time.

Tsuna was all alone. Her world was fading into darkness once more.

"Tsuna."

'_No. Go away. Leave me alone. You'll just be scared away when you see what a monster I truly am and I don't want to be hurt like that again._'

"Tsuna!"

'_Please don't hurt me. I don't want to hurt anymore. Just make it stop._'

"Tsuna!"

Tsuna forced her eyes to open and she was able to see a pair of black orbs staring straight into her own. They were so warm and comforting, but they also held a great amount of concern and fear, but not the type fear she had been expecting.

A hand touched her face and wiped away a few stray hairs. "You're going to be okay. I won't leave." Warm arms and a familiar scent pulled her in.

Her attention picked up on the last bit the boy had spoken. They were the words that she needed the most. "You promise?" Tsuna's voice cracked as she tried to reign in her tears and broken emotions.

"Promise," the raven haired boy muttered.

The look of pain, fear, and sorrow didn't fade, but a bit of light entered her eyes. Finally it was too much and the brunette broke out into loud and pained sobs. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" _For not being clean_.

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><p>Reborn carried Tsuna all the way to the hospital. When they arrived, the doctors had tried to take Tsuna away so that they could treat her, but she had screamed, yelled, and fought them all away. She had tightened her clutch on the boy and cried inconsolably, only calming down the tiniest bit when the teenager holding her, shushed her and promised once again the he wouldn't leave.<p>

They managed to get her into one of the rooms, but none of the doctors were able to get within five feet of the girl before she would start screaming at them and shouting that she didn't want any more injections, needles, and knives. She begged them to stop hurting her, that she didn't want the liquid fire to course through her veins again.

But her wounds were continuing to bleed out and even though they were someone completely fatal, if she didn't allow them to clean and close up the wound soon, then she could die from blood lose. Even if they did manage to close up the wound after she fainted, there was still the high possibility that the wounds were infected. When she started threatening to kill them if they came any closer, they thought about restraining her and giving her a tranquilizer, but that would definitely risk her already unstable mental health.

Finally, Reborn forced them away, calling them all incompetent fools, and he took care of the delirious girl himself. The moment the door was closed and the doctors out of sight, Tsuna calmed down considerably and started apologizing over and over again.

Reborn took care of her wounds and get her medicine in the forms of pills since she still refused any injections or an IV, then convinced her to lie down. Tsuna had caught his hand when he started to back away and stared at him with wide fearful eyes and begged him desperately not to leave.

It was then that Reborn started wishing that her eyes were still covered, because looking into those large brown orbs made him realize that he would have a very difficult time saying no to them in the future. No, even now he couldn't bring himself to upset the girl, so he pulled a chair over to her bed and sat down with her hand still tightly attached to his as she slowly drifted into a fitful sleep.

When she woke up, Reborn tried to get her to eat something and take more medicine, but then Tsuna started refusing everything. She didn't want to eat, drink, take any painkillers or antibiotics, nor did she want to sleep. She cried a great deal, but she made a point to never lose contact with Reborn if she could help it. The raven haired man was starting to grow truly anxious because she wasn't getting the nutrition she needed, as she was still refusing the IV, and it was obvious that her wounds were causing her a lot of pain, but Tsuna refused them all. She muttered something about it being her punishment for the evil she has committed or even _thought_ of committing. And it was frustrating Reborn that no matter what he did she wouldn't listen, even worse was that he didn't have in him to force her. Tsuna was lost and he couldn't help her.

For once, he wasn't a hitman, but a teenager who was lost and had no clue what he was to do.

And the worst had yet to come.

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><p>"Giotto!" G shouted as he burst into the blonde's office.<p>

The boy jumped a little at the sudden intrusion, but became serious when he saw the panic and worry in his best friend's eyes. "G, what happened?"

"It's Tsuna, she-…" The red head didn't seem to be able to finish.

"It seems that she is once again lost," Asari said calmly as he trailed into the office.

"What!" The blond gasped.

Asari nodded mournfully. "Everyone is on their way."

Giotto stood and ran, G and Asari following closely behind. They didn't stop running until they were in the hospital and outside the brunette's room.

"What is _he_ doing in there?" The blond growled when he spotted Reborn sitting by the young girl.

"He's the one who stopped the perpetrator from killing the little one and brought her in." Alaude walked up to the trio from the shadows with his arms crossed. It was clear to everyone that he was absolutely pissed.

Giotto blanched and fell onto the bench next to the door.

"They were going to _kill_ her?" G asked, his anger and shock hidden poorly.

Alaude gave him a curt nod.

"Nufufufu, then we should return the favor, no?" Daemon appeared out of nowhere next to them. "Who did it?"

"Did what?" Knuckles asked breathlessly as he and Lampo ran up.

"Damn. She looks like hell ran her over," Lampo muttered as he gazed into the room. He flinched when a series of glares went his way.

"It was that girl and her friends from yesterday, wasn't it?" Giotto asked in a hush tone.

"Correct." The group looked up to see Reborn leaning against the doorframe with a hard look.

"Where are they?" Asari asked, and uncharacteristic sharp glint in his eyes.

"Taken care of. That's why you weren't able to find out till now," Reborn answered evenly.

"You should have told us sooner!" Giotto snapped. "We're her family! We had every right to see her and make sure she was okay!"

Reborn's eyes narrowed dangerously. "It seems to me that you knew little to none about who she really was."

"What was that!" The blond hissed.

"Do you know why she apologizes so fiercely whenever someone messes with her bangs or attacks her with a knife?" Reborn crossed her arms as he waited for an answer. But the group just stared at him with blank and confused faces. The only one who didn't look thrown off by the raven haired teen's question was Alaude, who had closed his eyes in understanding.

"What does that have to do anything?" Giotto finally retorted.

"Wasn't she just apologizing to her attackers in an attempt to make them stop hurting her?" Asari questioned.

Reborn clicked his tongue in disproval. "How about the reason she started growing out her bangs to cover her eyes and why she's so sensitive about people seeing her eyes?"

Again the other's except Alaude looked confused.

"Do you even know the reason why she's so afraid of your siblings?" Reborn asked almost angrily. But when he didn't get any response, he shook his head in frustration. "Then ask your other blond friend. He and his kid brother knew, that's why they only pretended to help look for her while they were here. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew everything all along and was asked by Tsuna to keep quiet." There was a quiet choked sob inside and Reborn was back by Tsuna's side in an instant.

Giotto and the other's turned around to look at their strict friend. "Alaude…what's he talking about?"

The platinum blond sighed and started to walk away. "Office," he said shortly before anyone could call him back.

This was a trip down memory lane that he had been expecting for a long time. He just hoped that Tsuna would forgive him when it was over.

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><p><strong>This was definitely a sad chapter, despite my mood. But what did you think?<strong>

**Reviews are loved!**


	15. Chapter 15 Fade to Black

**Man, I'm just putting out one chapter after the other. I read all of your reviews for this story and the reviews for my newest ones and I just felt super inspired!**

**I want to say a special thanks to: dream-of-silent-death, SasoLOVE111, InK4bLoOd, tazdevil, BrokenBlackCat, Mad31lina, Kildosad, hammanop, Noname-NN, Difficult1305, Kichou, Ayz283, Kyara17, Once-upon-a-saturday, xXxDeMoNaNgEl27xXx, M.M.-chi, Marhaya, and Addictanga!**

**Also a thanks for the favs and adds!**

**I nearly put myself to tears more than once as I was typing this chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 15 Fade to Black<p>

_Tsuna looked around. There was scientists lying dead all around, her hands were coated in their blood. She felt so numb. But then the realization of what she had done hit her._

_She had killed them in cold blood._

_And yet, she didn't feel guilty. She hated these people. They hurt her and so many others. She was just sad that she had to be the one to do it. Why hadn't any of the adults come and save her? Didn't her mommy and daddy promise to protect her?_

_Her arms were hurting. There were dozens of cuts on them and her hands were badly burnt. Several of the puncture wounds were turning a sickly greenish-yellow, indicating infection. A knife lying on the floor showed her that she was crying._

_Tsuna forced her limbs to move, dragging her feet across the floor as she sought an exit from that terrible place. She ignored the screaming aches of her muscles and plodded along the pathway, only pausing for a moment when she finally reached the outside, but even then she kept going. It was dark and raining, causing the dirt pathway to turn into a swamp of mud that coated the brunette's bare feet as she headed down the road. When she reached the edge of the drive, she turned left because her intuition told her that, that path gave her the best chance of survival. But when she reached the concrete road, she body was at its limits and she collapsed onto her front. The rain continued to pour relentlessly, washing away the remains of the blood on her hands as well as the mud on her feet and legs._

'Is this the end?_' Tsuna thought as she stared at the hand that had landed before her face. '_Am I going to die all alone?...No one is here. I am alone…I am…alone…I am all alone…_'_

_That thought swirled around her head as her consciousness faded into darkness._

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><p><em>Tsuna woke with a start. There were people all around her, but they were wearing those horrible white coats.<em>

_They were bad people! They were going to hurt her!_

"_Get away!" She shouted, pushing them back. "Get away from me! Don't touch me! Stay away! Stay away! No! I don't want it! Monsters! Go away! Let me go! Mommy! Mommy! Help me, daddy! Gio-nii! Help me! No! I don't want this! I _don't_ want this! Stop it!"_

_But the people kept trying to hold her down. Tsuna fought and fought, finally managing to get off the gurney and rip the needle to the IV out of her arm. But the bad people kept coming, so Tsuna grabbed whatever was within her reach and threw it at them, be it chairs or their own tools. But soon she ran out of things she could throw, so she ran to the window only to find that it wouldn't open._

_The bad people finally overwhelmed her and stuck a needle into her arm, and she faded out again, crying bitterly for her weakness._

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><p><em>The next time she woke up, she was restrained to the bed and this time her limbs felt too heavy to put up a fight. She heard voices speaking outside her door so she focused more so that she could hear what they were saying.<em>

"_I'm afraid that your child may have suffered a psychotic break and we may need to put her on anti-depressants." That must have been the doctor._

_Tsuna recognized the next voice as her mother's which gave her hope, until she finished speaking. "Do you think it will help?"_

"_Well, we can't say for now. But I'm going to give an evaluation when she wakes up and we'll be able to determine the next course."_

"_Do whatever you think is necessary," Nana said._

'Traitor!_' Tsuna shouted in her mind as tears started streaming down her face again. '_You promised to protect me! You're a traitor!_'_

"_Do you know what they did to her to make her like this?" This time it was her father speaking._

"_There are a lot of abrasions, burns, and a few other signs of torture, but I can't say for sure. There are also trace amounts of several other chemicals in her system that should be checked out right away," the doctor informed the couple._

"_What if she wakes up and starts acting normal once she knows she's safe again?" Nana was speaking again._

_The doctor hesitated before answering. "While the possibility is there, I wouldn't get your hopes up too soon. She has been through a lot of trauma, there's a good chance that she'll need to stay medicated in order to keep her from losing control."_

"_Losing control?" Iemitsu spoke up once more. "Like how?"_

_Again, the doctor hesitated. "It isn't uncommon for victims of this amount of torment to break down and try to get rid of the reason they believe they had to suffer."_

"_You mean…" Iemitsu hesitated. "Like killing?"_

_Nana gasped._

"_Like I said, we'll have to wait till she wakes up to see. If her case is severe enough, then we may have to transfer her to a mental hospital so that she can get the help she needs. With your consent, of course," The doctor tacked on at the end._

"_If that's what she needs to help her," Iemitsu said gruffly._

'To help me, huh?_' Tsuna laughed bitterly within the safety of her mind. '_Fine. If that's what you think, then I'll just 'forget' everything that happened. Then you'll have nothing to worry about, since I'm such an inconvenience. This way you won't have to worry about what a monster I truly am._'_

_Tsuna closed her eyes and slowly allowed her tears to come to a stop and then waited for the trio to enter her ward._

_As the door opened, she pretended to yawn. She turned her head as much as she could and smiled brightly at her parents. "Hi Mama! Hi Papa!"_

_The couple hesitated when they saw their usual cheery daughter._

_Tsuna looked around curiously. "Mama, why am I in a hospital? Did I fall and hit my head?"_

"_Ah…" The older woman didn't seem to know how to respond._

_Tsuna pretended to be oblivious and looked around to the doctor. "Hi there Mister! Are you a doctor?"_

"_Yes I am. I'm glad to see that you're doing well. I'm going to take these restraints off, alright?" The doctor smiled kindly._

"_Mister Doctor, sir. Why was I restrained? Did I get hurt in a way that I shouldn't move?" Tsuna asked as she watched the man remove her bindings, all the while fighting the need to push him away and make a break for it._

_The doctor nodded. "But you're doing much better now so it should be fine. So tell me Tsunayoshi-chan, do you remember how you got here?"_

"_You can call me Tsuna!" The brunette said sweetly before answering. "And no, I can't remember. I'm sorry."_

"_That's quite alright. Can you tell me what the last thing you remember was?" The doctor pulled back and held his hands together, standing in front of the girl._

_The next thing Tsuna said was completely out of spite. She could have told them that the last thing she remembered was what happened the morning before she was taken, but she chose the night before instead. "Well, last night mommy and papa tucked me into bed and when I asked them about the monster in my closet and under my bed, they said there was nothing there. Then both mama and papa promised that if something was there, then they would protect me!"_

_The little girl made sure to watch from the corner of her eyes as the pain that flashed across her parents faces even though they tried their best to hide their expressions._

"_Do you remember what happened when you woke up?" The doctor asked._

_Tsuna tilted her head. "Yeah. I woke up here and you walked in with mama and papa."_

_The doctor nodded and turned toward the girl's couple. "Do you mind if I speak to your mommy and daddy outside."_

_Tsuna scrunched up her face. "You probably have to tell them some confusing doctor stuff huh? Will Gio-nii and everyone come and visit me while I wait?"_

"_That's right, Tsu-chan," Nana said with an obviously fake cheerful tone. "I'm sure they'll be here soon. You rest up while you wait, okay?"_

"_Okay!" The little brunette said cheerfully, reclining into her pillow and accepting the hair ruffle her father gave her._

_The moment they left the room, Tsuna dropped her smile and focused her hearing once more._

"_Doctor, what's the meaning of this?" Nana asked._

"_From what I can tell, it seems that you daughter has put up mental barriers to block out the memory of what happened those three weeks as a way to protect herself."_

"_Does that mean she'll be alright and we won't have to send her away or give her medication?" The woman asked hopefully._

"_It seems so, but we should watch her carefully in case she shows any signs of her memory returning to her. I think this is all for now, so I will have to excuse myself."_

"_Thank you doctor," Iemitsu said thankfully._

_Tsuna sat there and let her negative feelings swirl around, not choosing to pick a thought to focus on in fear of lashing out and messing up her performance._

* * *

><p><em>Tsuna was visited later that by all her friends and was released from the hospital the following day. When she made it back to her room, she started to think. She needed to grow stronger so that she wouldn't be so helpless next time. This experience had only proved that she couldn't rely on anyone else, so she needed to train.<em>

_So the following months she traveled out to her secret field. There was a cliff and a river nearby, so she could train there and then go to her special field to relax. When she first started out, she could barely make it ten feet up the cliff side without falling. Her constant injuries were going to attract attention soon, so she started looking for ways to take care of her wounds. She soon found a hollow tree and was able to store a first aid kit there, and the river provided a way to clean off her injuries. It became easy enough to hide her training._

_It took her nearly four months to climb the entire cliff side, but she was proud of herself when she had. She built her own training dummies to fight against, and made a point of studying her friends whenever they got into fist fights. She figured out that using weapons weren't really meant for her, so she stuck to training herself in hand-to-hand combat. Nearly a year later she started integrating the strange fire she had used to escape. It started out hot and explosive, never lasting more than five minutes and was extremely difficult to control. But eventually her patience paid off and she was able to attain the calm version without burning herself._

_All the while she maintained her Dame-Tsuna mask. She pretended to be the same cowardly little girl as before and allowed her friends to feel the pleasure they always took when defending her. And while she could more than protect herself from the bullies, she didn't in favor of keeping her charade going. She also made a promise to herself that she would never lose control and hurt others (even the bullies) and allow anyone else to see the monster within._

_But her mask wasn't seamless, and her strength must have been more apparent than the girl realized because one day the Hibari brothers had finally decided to confront her._

"_Small one."_

"_Hi Aluade-nii!" Tsuna called out happily._

"_Come with me." The beige haired teenager started walking away without waiting for an answer, knowing that the girl would follow._

"_See you guys tomorrow," the brunette called out with a wave to her other friends. She ran after the older boy before he was out of sight. She followed him all the way to his house before deciding to question his motives. "So what's up Alaude-nii?"_

_The boy set a cup of tea on the table before answering. "What happened when you were kidnapped?"_

_Tsuna wasn't able to contain the flinch that resulted from the boy's words and the memories that followed. "Wha-What do you mean?"_

"_He mean's what he said, omnivore." Kyoya sauntered into the room. He smirked when the brunette raised an eyebrow at the change in title._

"_I don't remember any kidnapping," Tsuna insisted, but her face was blank of emotion. "But perhaps I remember an incident that may or may not have happened around that time."_

_Alaude smirked as well. "Oh? And what do you think will be able to help brings these memories to the surface."_

"_I need someone to fight and help me train," Tsuna told the duo. "I'll trade my experience with yours. Deal?"_

_Alaude studied the girl. She had apparently been planning this out for a long time, though she thought she was going to be the one to approach them first and not the other way around. The others had underestimated her even more than they originally thought. Perhaps he too had overlooked this girl's abilities. "Very well Little Cub. We'll go by your requirements. Do not disappoint me."_

_Tsuna smiled crookedly a little at the new nickname and proceeded to tell them her tale._

* * *

><p><em>More time had passed and Tsuna was now almost 12. Her training had progressed immensely, to the point where she was able to fight both Alaude and Kyoya at once and still stand as their equal. At some point Daemon and Mukuro had found out that Tsuna was training with the Hibari brothers so they joined in as well, though Tsuna had told them that her reason for training was because she didn't want to be left behind. Her father had also stuck her into several self-defense and other fighting classes since the incident in an attempt to not only stave off bullies, but to prevent his daughter from ever getting abducted again.<em>

_Tsuna soaked up everything like a sponge, but still refused to use her abilities against the bullies. Dame-Tsuna was someone her friends could protect and give them the security that they were needed. It was also the mask that kept her from lashing out at everything, especially her parents and the doctors she was forced to visit every so often._

_But then everything changed for the worse once more. A harsher set of bullies went after the brunette, accusing her of taking up their idols time, for getting ahead of them by cheating, and for weighing them down. They tied her up and then proceeded to beat her till she was bleeding and unable to move. They had also managed to break several of her bones. They threw evil words at her carelessly, but they sunk into the brunette's brain and started to torture her thoughts until she started to break into nothing. _

_Her friendship wasn't real. Her life was worthless. She was an eyesore. She was ugly to the point of pity. She shouldn't be anywhere around the others because they were so much better. She was better off dead._

_That was when one of the middle school students pulled out a knife. In a second the kidnapping and torture flashed across Tsuna's mind and she started to fight back, but her body was already worn down too much and she no longer had the strength to escape. The bullies held her down and started to cut her, laughing when she screamed. Her ugly emotions came through, and Tsuna realized that she hated these people. The shadows of her heart leaped forward and hissed at her to kill them for the pathetic fools they were. But the lighter side told her not to, and she was so lost battling herself that she couldn't focus to stop the knife from continuously cutting her._

_And when hope had completely disappeared and Tsuna started to black out, Giotto was finally able to find her and chased off the bullies. Tsuna had apologized to him over and over again, trying to make him understand that she was sorry for her dark thoughts and the horrendous actions she had committed when she had been tormented all those years ago. _

_Giotto had whispered in her ear as he carried her home as fast as her could, promising that everything would be okay and that he was there._

_But Tsuna wanted him to promise that he wouldn't leave. So she apologized some more, thinking that he was disgusted with her tainted soul which was why he wasn't promising to stay by her side. And every moment he didn't say the words she desperately needed, she died a little inside. _

_Finally, Tsuna just shut down. She hid within herself in an attempt to protect what was left of her shattered being, refusing food, touch, and water. The fear of torture because of her relationship to her friends caught up to her, and she could no longer stand their company without falling into a panic attack. The only person who was able to come close without her freaking out was the blond because he had given her some form of a promise that he wouldn't leave her alone, and while he hadn't said those words exactly, Tsuna craved acceptance so much that she was able to push aside her fear of contact for the one person's name who wasn't mentioned when those bullies hurt her._

_Her parents' betrayal was cut even deeper into her when they took her to see a psychiatrist once again. This time the doctor prescribed her medicine, but Tsuna refused to take it. She didn't need it and she didn't want any more chemicals to mess with what was left of her. She felt that instead of helping her, her parents were pushing her away by taking the easy way out. They didn't bother to understand her before they tried forcing medication on her, and that hurt Tsuna even more till all that was left was a shell sitting blankly on her bed, waiting for life to be over. _

_A year later a proposal came in the form of an invitation for Tsuna to attend Vongola Academy. Iemitsu had refused several times over for a number of years now, but for the first time since the first invitation came almost five years ago, he started to consider the option. And when Giotto heard and told the man that he would look after the brunette, Iemitsu decided that it was the best and sent the girl away, sealing in the last bit of distrust in his daughter's heart without even realizing it._

_Tsuna slowly put herself together until she had a mask suitable enough to blend into the shadows and transferred into Vongola Academy for the last year of her elementary school days. With a new surrounding and people, Tsuna was able to pull herself together and start figuring out a way to heal herself. Her bangs acted as a shroud that separated her from the rest of the world. Nothing seemed truly real and she was able to pretend that she was watching life from behind the safety of a curtain covered window. She was also able to take out her rage and protect her friends at the same time by becoming an assassin for the school, and agreement made with the headmaster after she had tried to run away more than a dozen times. The mask Dame-Tsuna was dawned once more and Tsuna made do with this new life._

* * *

><p>Alaude told them everything that Tsuna had told him the day he made the deal to train her, and when he finished, the room was silent. None of them knew what to say after hearing everything Alaude had to say.<p>

"So why wouldn't she allow you to come close after she just shut down?" G asked wearily.

"Contact," the beige haired teen said simply. "And the lack of the right words that she wanted."

"I had always wondered when she developed the ability to use dying will flames," Asari said softly.

"I just wish this wasn't the way we found out," Lampo muttered.

"Or how she gained the ability in the first place," Knuckles agreed.

Daemon sighed a little and leaned back in his chair. "I should have realized you knew something when you changed that little pet name and started training her."

Giotto sat silently, his hands pressed together on the desk and his expression hidden behind his bangs. "So I didn't know everything after all."

No one said anything, not even Daemon. What _could_ they say after that? And they didn't even know what Tsuna had taken up once she entered the academy.

* * *

><p>Reborn burst into the Arcobaleno meeting room, storming over to the group's leader without any concern for his disheveled and bloody appearance. "Luce, I need your assistance."<p>

The others were thrown into another round of shock. Not only was Reborn disregarding his usual adamant need for a pristine attire, but he was asking for help.

However, Luce was sharp and recognized that this must be a serious situation. "What's wrong Reborn?" She asked seriously, all traces of her usual cheery self gone.

"A sky is about to fade to black."

Without another word, the duo was out of the room and making their way as quickly as they could away from the building. Reborn led her straight to the brunette's side, reaching over to hold the girl's hand once more.

Luce stared in shock and reached out to touch the girl, who pulled back violently, then slowly stilled as Reborn whispered something into her ear. The brunette's skin was like ice and she was as pale as snow. And because of the sight and the fear that set within her heart, Luce had to check to make sure there was still a pulse because never had the two seen anyone look so dead while they were still alive.

* * *

><p><strong>Serious past, but it's the reason why Tsuna isn't like the canon version. <strong>

**By the way, if you're a hunter x hunter fan and you don't mind OC's, then check out my new story 'White World'!**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter! Reviews are lovely! **


	16. Chapter 16 Skies Are Void of Light

**I'm so sorry! I didn't hit the add chapter button when I was uploading Wednesday! DX But at least the lack of reviews wasn't because the chapter was horrible. I hope this chapter helps make up for my mistake! If not, then hopefully the extra I'll be adding to the end of the next chapter will! (Hint: What exactly happened to the students who nearly got rid of little Tsuna away for good.)**

**I want to send a special super thanks to: SasoLOVE111, Once-upon-a-saturday, Ayz283, Difficult1305, BrokenBlackCat, Fem27, Mad31lina, Noname-NN, hammanop, dream-of-silent-death, Kichou, ezcap1st, and Lady Syndra!**

**Also a thanks to the favs and adds!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 16 Skies Are Void of Light<p>

"She became this way when she woke up a few hours ago," Reborn told his companion before she could ask.

"Reborn…what exactly happened to Tsuna-chan?" Luce asked slowly.

The boy shook his head. "She has one shit load of a past and it's catching up to her."

Luce bit her lip. "It looks like she's shutting down…like she's lost the will to live…Has this happened before?"

"Apparently she became this way once about two years ago. But I think she was working her way up to that point for a little over four years."

Luce nodded. "Then you're the one who needs to do something right now."

Reborn looked up, confused. "Luce, I'm not a sky like you two. I can't connect or harmonize with her like you can. Plus I'm a hitman. We break people not heal them."

The black haired girl shook her head. "We may have the harmonizing quality, but the Sun is the reason the sky can see the light of day. You should know better than anyone Reborn, that the sky cannot be filled with their own light. Our light has come from the sun, who pushes away the darkness that the sky must bear alone."

"I'm not Knuckles or his sibling. They're her family, not me."

"Perhaps not family yet, but you are important to her. And more than that, she's important to you. Why else would you go so far for her right now? Besides, I don't think its family she wants right now. I may not know her situation, but I can tell that she needs a friend who can understand her pain. And that's why she allows you to come close and touch her, while others she shrinks away in fear."

Reborn frowned lightly. "That's only because I was the one who found her and gave her the help she needed."

Luce shook her head. "I don't think that's the only reason."

Reborn's gaze flickered between the older girl and the seemingly asleep brunette.

"I'll stay and help her once she's back in her right mind," Luce assured the other. "But it's up to you to bring her back before she completely locks herself away."

The black haired boy grimaced and turned his gaze back to the brunette. He ran his thumb over the girl's knuckles unconsciously as he thought about what to do. It was frustrating since this isn't what a hitman was supposed to do, but it's not like he could just leave her there after everything, he wasn't _completely_ heartless. Reborn thought about the reason the girl was pulling into herself. It must have been because of what happened when she escaped from her kidnappers. He hadn't gotten the chance to confirm his suspicions, he cursed himself a little for playing her five question game, but he could pretty much guess what had happened. It probably was also the reason that she was also one of the school's assassins.

Reborn leaned forward and whispered into the brunette's ear, "You're not a monster Tsunayoshi and you aren't all alone… I promise I won't leave you."

A little life returned to the caramel brown orbs, like a speck of light that could be seen at the end of a dark tunnel, and the brunette shifted slightly to look at the raven haired boy with tears dusting the corners eyes. "You promise?" Her voice was raspy from dehydration and lack of use.

"Promise." Reborn smirked. "After all, I'm the number one hitman in the world. I don't make promises I can't keep."

Tsuna smiled, tears dripping down the corners of her eyes. But she wiped them and gazed at the boy somberly. "But how can you say I'm not a monster? I've killed plenty, starting when I was just eight."

Reborn shrugged. "That's not so bad. Colonello, Lal, Mammon, and my first kill were when we were five. And Fon, Verde, and Luce's first time was when they were six."

Tsuna scrunched up her face. "What about Skull?"

"I don't pay attention to weaklings." Reborn flicked the girl's forehead for even asking such a question with enough force to push her back into her pillow.

"Itai! Reborn that hurt!" Tsuna exclaimed, pressing a hand over the small red mark. "Ah! My bangs…"

"It's about time you got rid of them. They were annoying," Reborn said to the girl before she could have another panic attack. "Someone with your strength doesn't need to hide from the world. It's a mockery of my teachings."

"You haven't even taught me anything!" The brunette exclaimed indignantly.

"Now that everyone knows that I'm your tutor, you better start shaping up. Otherwise I'll have to train you harder." An evil glint flashed though the boy's eyes, making the brunette shudder.

"I-I told you that I don't want you to be my tutor!" Tsuna tried to argue. But she couldn't help but giggle softly.

"Now that you're not acting so useless anymore, Luce can finally give you that make over she's been dying to give you since the first day she met you." The raven haired boy turned to look at his fellow Arcobaleno.

Luce smiled brightly. "If that's okay with you, Tsuna-chan."

Tsuna nodded hesitantly. "J-J-Just m-my hair th-though."

The older woman nodded. "Why don't you sit up and face Reborn-kun, okay?"

Tsuna nodded and with a little help she sat up on the bed and turned to face the other boy. "I think I preferred my bangs," she muttered upon closer look at the boy.

"Why, my looks too good for you?" Reborn teased.

"No, you looked less scary when I couldn't see you properly," the brunette replied bluntly, trying her best to ignore the snipping sounds behind her. "Seriously, put on a couple of horns and tail, maybe carry around a red trident, and you complete the whole demon look."

Reborn resisted the urge to flick the girl again. "Today's a new day. So you have to answer five of my questions."

Tsuna grimaced, but nodded. "Shoot."

"Why don't you defend yourself from those annoying pests? You have more than enough power to push them away." Reborn studied the girl to watch for potential lies.

"Gio-nii and everyone needs Dame-Tsuna…Dame-Tsuna is someone they can protect…Also," the brunette hesitated, like she was afraid to admit something. "Also…I'm afraid that if I try to defend myself, then my inner demons will come out and take control, and then I'll go too far… The first bullies who cut me up…I _hated_ them. There was so much raw hatred and I knew that if I fought back that I'd…that I'd really kill them…"

"I don't think you would dear," Luce said softly as she checked her work.

"I think that despite your anger toward those fools, even if you fought back and beat them into the ground, you would have been able to stop yourself and walk away," Reborn finished for the other.

"How can you be so sure?" The brunette asked, almost desperately.

"Dame-Tsuna, if I have to say it one more time, I may have to push you off the roof of this building to train your attention skills."

"What does pushing me off the roof have to do with my attention?" Tsuna asked incredulously.

"I'm your tutor, that's what," Reborn replied with a smirk.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Tsuna shouted.

The black haired boy poked the girl between her eyes, though not hard enough to mess up Luce's work. "I'm only going to say this one more time today. I'm sure because I'm the greatest hitman in the world."

"That doesn't make any sense either, stupid Reborn!" The brunette retorted, wincing when a Leon rolled up newspaper made contact with the top of her head.

"I told you to stop adding insults to my name. I'm the only one who's allowed to do that," Reborn said smugly.

"All done!" Luce said happily. She pulled out a wheelchair and dumped Tsuna inside so that she could take the younger girl into the bathroom to show her, her reflection.

Tsuna smiled tentatively. Her hair was now just below her shoulders and her bangs were completely out of her eyes, with cute little partings that complimented her eyes. There were also fringes framing her face now too that were, miraculously, staying down despite being chin length. "Thank you," she said softly.

Luce smiled warmly and hugged the girl lightly, keeping her injuries in mind. "I'm glad I could help. The skies should stick together as one, shouldn't we?"

Tsuna looked surprised, but slowly nodded and eased back into another smile.

"Now that this is finally taken care of, let's get out of here. I don't like hospitals," Reborn griped, grabbing the handles behind the brunette's wheelchair and pushing her out of the bathroom.

"Wait!" Tsuna called out. "Where's my jacket? My treasure is in there!"

Luce walked over and handed the sweater over to the girl, who immediately started digging through the pockets till she pulled out a small wooden box. She peeked inside and sighed in relief. "It's okay."

Reborn raised an eyebrow. "What's in there?"

The brunette smiled brightly. "Remember what I told you about Leon? Before he left, he gave this to me and told me to keep it safe. He said that this would be his physical promise that I would get to see him again one day."

"How cheesy, corny, cliché, and ridiculous. I wouldn't get caught dead doing something like that." Reborn shook his head disdainfully.

"Shut up!" Tsuna said huffily. "Leon was my bestest friend in the whole world and I promised to keep this safe! Besides, I think it was really nice."

"One, bestest isn't a real word and for that, I'll have to train you extra hard when you've finally recovered. Two, of course someone like you would like it. You're just like any other girl looking for a sappy story," Reborn argued as he pushed the girl out of her hospital ward.

Luce studied the two and smiled, following the two who continued to argue all the way back to Tsuna's dorm.

* * *

><p>The members of the Arcobaleno decided that they wanted to have a party and Tsuna's return just happened to be a good excuse to throw the said party. And to Tsuna's frustration, they all decided to do so in the brunette's dorm. Not only that, but the Varia found out as well and decided to drop by.<p>

"Tsu-chan~! You look so cute! You have to let me dress you up!" Lusseria cooed while wiggling in a very…gay fashion.

"U-Uh, thanks…I…guess," Tsuna said, trying not to sound too dreadful. Her eyebrow was twitching a little as she pressed herself as far away from the man as she could.

"Tsunayoshi," Xanxus greeted before heading over to a couch to occupy by himself.

"Ah. Fuzzball-san, boss has upgraded your name, he must think you're cute," Fran said in a monotone.

Bel strode forward and stuck his face in front of the brunette's. "Ushishishi, you're now truly the principessa worthy of the prince."

"Is that so?" Tsuna tried to smile despite how uncomfortable she was feeling.

"Bel-senpai, you're making Tsuna-san uncomfortable you perverted fake prince," Fran called out, to which he received a round of knives through his frog hat. But he was successful at making the other move, so Tsuna mouthed a thank you to the boy.

"VOOOII! It's about time you got rid of that ridiculous fringe!" Squalo shouted.

"Yes, Tsuna-chan looks much cuter now," Luce approved.

"Now that you can see properly, you should be even better at fighting, kora!" Colonello agreed. "We should spar once you're better."

Lal nodded to the blonde's statement. "I want to see if you're better than this idiot." Sh jabbed her thumb at the blonde Arcobaleno.

"W-We'll see." Tsuna laughed nervously. She _really_ just wanted to go to bed.

Fon seemed to sense the brunette's unease because he decided to step in. "But for now you should relax and recuperate. Perhaps you should take a few more days off from school."

"Nonsense," Reborn cut in. "Dame-Tsuna is stupid enough as she is. If she skips anymore school then she's never be able to catch up."

A vein popped on Tsuna's temple. "Shut up stupid Reborn! I'm more than capable of taking off a few days and still be ahead of my other classmates!"

"You're last test doesn't say that," The raven haired boy disputed.

"I didn't feel like trying you moron! If I score too high then I blow my cover!" Tsuna argued.

"Since you're my student you can't have any low scores, if you don't score at least a 90 on your next test, then I'm going to train you till you cry."

"Screw you! I don't have to do anything you say! I told you that I didn't want a tutor! And what's with the ridiculous setting? You should start with at least 70! Baka Reborn!"

The raven haired boy hit the girl atop her head with a rolled up newspaper. "I told you that you're not allowed to add insult to my name Dame-Tsuna. And you have to obey me since not only are you my servant, but I've already declared to everyone that you're my student."

"I refuse!" Tsuna shouted and aimed kick at the boy, which was blocked easily.

"Tsuna-chan, you shouldn't be moving around like that yet," Luce scolded.

"I'm going to land a hit on this guy, even if it kills me," Tsuna called back as she aimed another kick at the raven haired boy.

* * *

><p>Tsuna yawned as she walked to class. It had been a pain to get everyone out of her room last night, and she hadn't been successful till nearly two in the morning. Not to mention that Reborn had stolen her bed while she had been occupied and it had taken another long fight until she had enough room for her to be able to sleep comfortably. <em>Then<em> the jerk had to go and wake her up early to make breakfast for both of them, though he had been kind enough to only pull the sheets out from under her so that she fell to the floor rather than using a mallet.

But that wasn't the only thing that was wearing on her nerves today. No, it was also all the staring and whispering in the hallways as she passed through the hallways. For some reason the moment she entered the school, all the other students had started staring at her shamelessly. It was like she was the new kid all over again. Actually… No. It was way worse. What the heck was going on? A good deal of the guys needed to shut their mouths and stop drooling. It was unsightly and completely gross.

The brunette opened the door to the classroom and stepped inside. The moment the other students inside caught sight of her, they went silent then started whispering excitedly. Tsuna sighed. This was starting to become ridiculous…No wait. It already was.

Her ears perked when some of the hushed conversations made it to her.

"Who is that?"

"Is she a new transfer student?"

"Don't you think she looks a little familiar?"

"Wow, she's totally my type! Do you think she's going out with anyone?"

"That new girl is really cute!"

"Where do you think she comes from?"

Tsuna's eye twitched. So that was it. No one recognized her…What a bunch of idiots. She resisted another sigh and took her seat. Mentally preparing herself for the next round of disbelieving rumors.

"No way! That's Dame-Tsuna?"

"Now that I think about it, if you take away the bangs then you can see the similarities."

"Wow! Who knew that Dame-Tsuna was actually really cute?"

"No wonder Reborn decided to tutor her!"

"Yeah, I bet he saw her without her bangs first, that's shy he did that! He probably forced her to cut her hair too!"

"Tch. I bet she just seduced poor Reborn-san."

"She's probably just using him for his popularity and power."

"What a whore."

"We should really do something about her once and for all."

WHACK!

"Itai! Dammit all!" Tsuna grasped the back of her head where she had been assaulted. She looked up and glared at the only person she knew who would attack her so blatantly. "What the hell was that for Stupid Reborn?"

"I've decided that for every insult you don't bother to correct anyone, I'm going to train you by hitting your head until the lesson sinks in," Reborn told the girl.

"You're just killing brain cells you idiot!" Tsuna yelled. "Don't you know that every time you hit your head, you bleed internally a little!"

Reborn smirked. "All the more reason for you to learn your lesson quickly."

"Arg! You're so unreasonable! This is why I don't want you to be my tutor!" Tsuna nearly yelled. "What the hell are you doing here anyways?"

"I'm here to make sure that you don't answer incorrectly," the hitman explained.

"Oh? And where are you supposed to sit? All the seats are taken." It was Tsuna's turn to smirk this time, thinking that she had found a way to get rid of the boy.

"I'll sit in your seat and you can sit on my lap," the boy said unashamedly.

"I should kick your ass for that stupid comment," Tsuna growled, her eye twitching from annoyance.

Reborn smirked again. The girl hadn't even blushed, which was amusing in itself. But more that, it proved to her classmates that she wasn't any of the things that they accused her of. He shrugged. "In any case, I have my own chair." He pulled a comfortable chair from seemingly nowhere.

"You're so god damn frustrating! You know that!" Tsuna groaned and let her head fall onto her folded arms on the desk.

"Why thank you," the hitman said smugly.

Tsuna huffed angrily, but ignored the boy in favor of the incoming teacher. The lesson started off as usual, after the teacher greeted Reborn excitedly and reaffirmed that the girl sitting in Dame-Tsuna's seat was actually Tsuna and not some new girl, and soon enough the brunette was called to answer a question.

Tsuna stood, barely even taking the time to look at the question and answered, "x=12."

"Incorrect again, Sawada," the teacher said in an irritated and mocking manner.

"Wait a moment," Reborn interrupted before the teacher could call on someone else. "Baka-Tsuna, I want you to answer seriously. No more answering questions wrong on purpose."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Reborn," the brunette said with obviously fake innocence. Beginning to move to sit down again.

"If you don't answer seriously, then I'll let Luce and Lusseria team up and play dress up with you for a whole day," the raven haired boy threatened.

Tsuna froze like a block of ice. "U-Uh, teacher I take back my answer. I believe it should be x=3."

The teacher nodded in approval. "That's correct. Would you come to the front and write out how to solve the next problem."

"Y-Yes sir." Tsuna walked to the front and robotically wrote out the problem, all the while trying not to make a run for it as Reborn's gaze seemed to burn a hole right through her, watching to make sure she didn't purposely mess up.

"There, now that wasn't so difficult was it," Reborn said complacently.

"I hate you," Tsuna muttered.

Reborn chuckled evilly. "That's what makes this all the more fun."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! We are now slowly moving away from this little emo section! It won't all go away, but now that Tsuna's secret is out in the open, someone can finally start helping her!<strong>

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	17. Chapter 17 Into the Next Year of Life

**Duh, duh, duh, duuuuuh~! Here is another chapter for you guys! As promised there is an extra waiting for you down at the bottom, and I even made this chapter a little longer!**

**This is all very much thanks to: Once-upon-a-saturday, Kichou, Zylia16, xbluerainbowx, Mad31lina, BrokenBlackCat, Ayz283, hammanop, SasoLOVE111, InK4bLoOd, tazdevil, dream-of-silent-death, Aya-chan's Alice, Noname-NN, dimidium draco, Lady Syndra, Yoshikuni Itoe, and ezcap1st!**

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><p>Chapter 17 Into the Next Year of Life<p>

The young brunette sky guardian clenched her fist angrily in front of her, slightly hunched over as she tried to contain her rising fury and irritation. It was official. Dame-Tsuna mask be damned, she was going to kill somebody and it ain't gonna be pretty. No, screw that. It wasn't going to be just somebody, but a whole freakin' massacre. If _one more_ of those stupid love sick puppies stalking her through town came up to ask her out or use a horribly cheesy pick up line (i.e. 'I was so enchanted by your beauty that I ran into that wall over there. So I am going to need your name and number for insurance purposes.' 'Sorry, but you owe me a drink. [Tsuna: Why?] Because when I looked at you, I dropped mine.' 'Damn, if being sexy was a crime, you'd be guilty as charged!' 'Your lips look so lonely... Would they like to meet mine?' 'Smoking is hazardous to your health... and baby, you're killing me!' 'Hey... Didn't I see your name in the dictionary under "Shazaam!"' 'I don't have a library card, but do you mind if I check you out?' etc) _one more_ time, someone was going to get kicked so hard they wouldn't be able to recognize up from down.

"That's not a face a pretty young girl like you should be making, don't you think?" The girl snapped out of her pissed off state and glanced up to see a man with white hair, brown eyes, and glasses slurping up ramen noodles.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the man suspiciously. "Do I know you?"

"I would think so. You've come into my shop more times than I care to count. About 36 times total I think," the man said, contradicting his earlier statement. "32 of which was because you were being chased by bullies and you needed a place to hide."

"Ah!" Tsuna brightened as she remembered. "You're that man who offered me tea while I hid! But wasn't your shop, all the way back in Namimori?"

"That would be my mother's shop. The one here is actually the one I own, but it's often run by an assistant since I enjoyed your visits when you still lived with your parents." The man paused to suck up more noodles. "I'm glad to see that you finally decided to trim your bangs again. I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever stop hiding from the world. Day break has to come for every sky at some point."

Tsuna smiled shyly. "Yeah. Even though the method wasn't one I can ever consider pleasant, I think that I'm also glad that I can start being myself again."

"Well, that's a very good thing. Why don't you take a break from your shopping and come in to have some tea?" The man opened the door wide enough to let the girl enter before closing it so that her horde of stalkers couldn't follow. "I should formally introduce myself. I'm Kawahira."

"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi," the brunette said with a small bow.

Kawahira raised an eyebrow questioningly as he poured the tea. "A very regal name usually meant for males."

"My mom and dad had been expecting a boy. But they liked the name so even though I was born a girl, they kept it." Tsuna laughed sheepishly, reaching for the offered cup and taking a cautious sip. "But I prefer people calling me Tsuna."

The white haired man nodded. "Tsuna fits you very well. You do have the sky's knack to create strong bonds with others, be it friend or foe."

Tsuna deadpanned. '_Foe? What foe could I have possibly made a strong bond with?_'

Kawahira chuckled. "You'll see in due time. In any case, do you care to divulge the reason you are in town today?" He took a sip from his own cup as he waited for the girl's answer.

Tsuna squirmed uncomfortable and tried to ignore the small embarrassed warmth in her cheeks. "This idiot I know has been a major pain in my ass since I met him a few months ago, but…he has helped me quite a few times. So I should thank him some way and since his birthday is coming up, I have decided that, that's a great time to do it. I thought it would work out well because then I won't be getting him a gift randomly and making him think that I actually was able to tolerate him."

The white haired man smiled knowingly and gestured to his shop. "Why don't you have a look around? You might be able to find something here that you couldn't in the other shops."

Tsuna smiled a little and got up to look around. She peered into the cabinets and glass cases, staring curiously at the antique items seated delicately on the shelves. A curios little hat stand situated in a lonely corner caught her attention and Tsuna wandered over to look at what it had to offer. But there was only one hat left hanging on the rack, a black fedora with an orange stipe going around its base. Tsuna picked it up carefully. For some reason it felt familiar, but at the same time she couldn't recall why. But there was also a sense of rightness about her giving this to the annoying raven haired teenage boy. She could imagine exactly how the hat would work on the man. It made him seem even more dangerous, sending shivers down the girl's spine.

"You have a good eye," Kawahira said, coming up behind the girl.

"Hiiie!" Tsuna jumped, not expecting the man to be able to sneak up behind her.

"I think this should work well for your friend." Kawahira took the hat and placed it inside a box, covering it carefully with tissue paper so that it wouldn't jostle too much. He even gift wrapped it for her. "That will be 500 yen."

Tsuna almost dropped her purse. "That little? No, no, no. I couldn't possibly pay only that! Please tell me the real price. I can assure you that I'm more than able to afford it."

Kawahira shook his head. "This is the only price that I will sell it for. Not a penny more."

"Bu-Bu-But…" Tsuna gaped. "Then…At least let me pay for the tea as well."

"Okay, 150 yen." The man smiled brightly.

Tsuna nearly fell over. "You lowered the price even more!" She accused loudly. She took out 5,000 yen and pushed it into the man's hands. "_Please_ take this. You have done so much for me and I don't want you to do so much for free. At least take this much, until I can find something else that you would be more willing to take as payment."

Kawahira smiled warmly and ruffled the girl's hair. "Very well. You should return to your school now. A few people who are close to your heart are searching for you."

"Thank you very much, Kawahira-san." Tsuna bowed respectfully and left.

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><p>"Guys, I don't think we should be trying to break into Tsuna's room," Lampo said nervously.<p>

"Nonsense," Daemon refuted as he continued to fiddle with the lock. "Do you honestly think she'll just let us in if we knock?"

"Maybe. But don't you think it would be easier to get inside if you just used this key?"

The group froze and looked around to see Tsuna holding up her room key and staring at them with a raised eyebrow. Before they could react, Tsuna raised her foot and kicked the blue haired man back.

"You better not have broken my door again, or you'll be receiving another bill for the cost of repairs." The brunette opened the door and walked inside, leaving the entrance open so that they others could enter as well. She hid her shopping bag in her room then went over to her kitchen to make tea. "You guys are early. Dinner won't be ready for a while, so you're going to have to wait. Well? Aren't you coming in?"

G, Asari, Knuckles, and Alaude were the first ones to get themselves back in order and enter the girl's dorm, closely followed by Daemon and Lampo. But Giotto was a little more hesitant.

Tsuna brought over a tray of tea and set it down on the coffee table. "Didn't it cross your minds to text me if you were going to visit or not? You were so loud trying to break in, that I could have escaped out the window long before you even managed to open the door."

"Nufufufu. We didn't hear from you for a while so we wanted to surprise you," Daemon said innocently.

Tsuna rolled her eyes. "Sure you did. So, anything new on your end?"

"Nothing much," G answered, studying the girl. "Though, we hear that there's been plenty going on with you."

The brunette shrugged. "I got beat up pretty bad, so I had to go to the hospital for a couple days. But that idiot Reborn as well as Luce convinced me to stop letting bullies beat me up. Other than that, nothing much has happened."

"Tsuna…What have you been hiding from us?" Asari asked.

The brunette hummed a bit. "I'm pretty sure that Alaude's told you everything he knows by now, so there really nothing else to ask."

"Tsuna…why did you hide so much from us?" Giotto asked quietly. "We would have tried to help. We could have understood if you told us."

Tsuna half smiled. "Actually. You wouldn't have. I killed people and because I was fearful of the doctors, my own parents betrayed my trust by trying to keep me medicated. Things like that, you have to go through yourself if you want to understand."

"Tsuna, if I may ask…" Knuckles paused as he tried to gather his thoughts in order. "You were so lost and closed until you entered this school. So how is it that you've opened up so quickly and more so than before?"

Tsuna pursed her lips in thought as she chopped up the ingredients she needed. "I guess I found someone who could relate to my situation a bit."

Giotto frowned. "Is it Reborn again?"

Tsuna huffed. "He's the biggest pain in the ass I've ever had the displeasure of meeting, but he really helped me out on this one."

"Oya? So he's killed before to?" Daemon inquired.

Tsuna narrowed her eyes and pointed her knife at the group. "Don't act as if you don't know. I know that all of you are aware about the Arcobaleno's job."

"But that proves he's dangerous," Lampo pointed out.

Tsuna laughed humorously. "Then I'm just as bad. Maybe even worse since I don't have a leash holding me back."

"You cut your hair," Giotto muttered suddenly. "Are you going to be okay? You had a nervous breakdown whenever someone tried to brush them away before."

Tsuna tugged at a strand of her bangs. "Actually, it was that senior who cut it when she tried to chop me up with that knife of hers."

"What!"

Tsuna leaned back, a little blown away by the sudden burst. She scrunched up her face and rubbed one of her ears. "Jeez. Let's not blow out my ear drums."

"Tsuna, what do you mean a bully tried to chop you up with a knife?" The blond asked frantically.

"Oh yeah, Reborn was probably an ass and didn't tell you huh? Well, that girl who tried to seduce you last week got really made, as I had predicted she would, and ambushed me with a couple of her friends as well as two senior guys. She then beat me up pretty bad and then I sort of said something to tick her off even more, and then she went all insane on me and took out a knife." Tsuna shrugged. "Reborn got there before she could kill me, so it's all good."

"How can you be so nonchalant about this?" G growled.

"Because I really don't care about it anymore. Sure, it bothered me at the time, but after Reborn helped me out and I cleared my head, I was told that Reborn had beaten the crap out of them and then the rest of the Arcobaleno all but finished them off. So I don't really feel like there's any other reason to think about it. Those idiots got more than what they deserved."

Asari shook his head. "Tsuna, you didn't see how you looked when you were still in the hospital."

"Normally, I would be all for the peaceful route," Knuckles agreed. "But those cretans deserved a greater punishment if they're able to regain their health within the year."

"We should sent them to an asylum if we really want them to pay for their misdeeds to our precious little sister." Daemon made his scythe appear.

Tsuna giggled. "You guys are the same as ever. But another reason I don't care anymore is that I have no idea where all of them disappeared to and Luce said it would be better if I didn't know, so I didn't ask, especially since she was using that creepy smile of doom and _Mammon_ chuckled evilly." The brunette shuddered. "Actually…Even Verde was in a good mood that day. He muttered something about new test… subjects…ooooh~ I get it."

The others couldn't help but shudder as well.

"Anyways, you're going to have to ask those guys if you want to know where those bullies went, or if they're even alive anymore." Tsuna set aside the dishes she finished. "Now can we drop that subject and move on? I don't want eat while we're talking about that stuff and I'm pretty hungry right now because I couldn't eat lunch, for fear of being sick because of all those stupid pick-up lines that were shoved at me today."

"Pick-up lines?" Giotto asked, successfully distracted.

Tsuna groaned and let her head fall onto the counter. "Ever since I returned to school with my new haircut, all these annoying guys have been coming up to me and saying the most idiotic things. It took all of my self-restraint to keep myself from knocking any of them into next week. If I didn't meet Uncle Kawahira when I did, then there may have been a bloody genocide in town today. Man! I never knew there could be so many stupid pick-up lines out there, and that probably wasn't even a quarter of it." The brunette picked up and allowed her head to fall back onto the counter a few time. "People didn't react this way in Namimori, so why the hell now?"

"It's like we've always been saying. Tsu-chan is very cute." Giotto smiled warmly, with a hint of his usual teasing self.

G nodded. "That's right. The others were just jealous. That's why they picked on you."

The brunette scowled. "I agree with Scrooge on this one. I hate people."

"Oh? And what about us?" Daemon demanded.

"You guys are my big brothers. Ergo, you aren't people." Tsuna picked up her completed dishes and set them on the table. "Okay, you can come over for dinner now."

The seven males sat down and immediately dug in.

"Ah, Tsu-chan! I've missed your cooking!" Daemon said happily, tears of joy practically streaming down his face.

"I must agree. The cafeteria may have top rated chefs, but none can compare to one of your home cooked meals," Asari said joyfully.

"Eh, could have used a little less salt."

Tsuna flipped around and attacked the body connected to the hand that had just stolen some food off her plate before six of her seven companions even had time to register the newcomer. "Damn you Reborn! Get the hell out of my dorm!"

Reborn smirked and dodged easily. "Chaos, Dame-Tsuna."

The brunette huffed, but returned to her seat. "I had hoped that you would leave me alone for the rest of today. Your harassment in my classes should more than make up for what you usually do. Speaking of which, where the heck did you get all that chalk, when our school uses whiteboards!"

"I have my ways," the raven haired teen replied vaguely. "Not that chalk is the most difficult think in the world to come by."

"And why did you have to throw it at my head!" Tsuna demanded. "It had so much force that the whole freakin' thing turned to dust! Any normal person would have been knocked out for the rest of the day!"

"If you hadn't started to answer the questions wrong then I wouldn't have had to use the chalk. It's your own fault." Reborn pushed Tsuna a little so that he could sit on half her chair and lean against her.

"Erg. Get off Reborn, you're heavy." The brunette elbowed the teenager lightly.

But the hitman flicked the girl's forehead and refused to move. "So you're all up to date, correct Idiot Blond and company."

Giotto frowned. "While I'm grateful for the help you provided Tsuna, I must ask you to refrain from bothering her so much."

Reborn merely responded by leaning back more and putting more weight on his student.

"Reborn, why are you really here?" Tsuna grunted, trying to distract the teen from her older brother figure and lessen the weight he was shoving onto her.

The hitman decided to play nice and sat up a little more. "Luce wants to discuss an outfit for that party and she asked me to retrieve you."

Tsuna blanched. "See ya."

But before she could go so much as a foot away, Reborn had caught her and hoisted the girl over his shoulder. "No can do. In this case it's either you or me, and I'm not below selling out my student. You can ask Dino if you want confirmation."

"One) Who is this Dino everyone keeps bringing up when they talk about your last student, Two) You're such an ass Reborn! There's no way in hell I'm gonna let myself be dressed up like a little doll! Put me down! I refuse to take any of this crap!" Tsuna tried to fight her way out of the older teen's grip, but to no avail.

"Luce is also expecting the rest of you to attend tomorrow," Reborn said to the Student Council members before they could speak up against the hitman's actions, as well as ignoring the brunette flopped over his shoulder. Reborn then left before any other word could be said.

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><p>As it turned out, the outfit Luce chose wasn't as bad as Tsuna thought it would be.<p>

No. It was worse.

Why? Because Reborn had complimented her. And Reborn complimenting her meant that he had an evil scheme that would cause her a great deal of pain and suffering later. Sure everyone else had complimented her and told her that she looked extremely cute and should wear those sorts of dresses more often as well. But the fact that Reborn, her arch nemeses, _wasn't_ laughing at her bode nothing good.

"Not bad, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn smirked at the girl with his hands shoved into his suit pant pockets.

The brunette immediately took a defensive stance. "Okay, what the hell are you planning you bastard?"

The smirk widened into a sly smile. "I have absolutely no clue what you could possibly be implying."

Tsuna's eye twitched. This was even worse than she had originally thought. She glanced around, waiting for something to jump out at her.

"Oh, Viper," Reborn called out, spotting the hooded illusionist. "I have the photos. You can take care of the rest."

The hooded Arcobaleno clicked his tongue. "It's Mammon. But thanks. We'll earn a fortune with this."

Just before the illusionist disappeared, Tsuna caught sight of the pictures. They were all photos taken of her. "Nooo!" She shouted out, but it was too late. She gaped at the empty spot, then fell to her hands and knees in depression.

It was then that Reborn chuckled.

Tsuna glared at the teen. "I'm nearly positive that I hate you."

But that made the raven haired teen chuckle even more.

Tsuna sighed in defeat. There was nothing she could do about it now anyways, so why continue to fight it. Instead she stood up and tossed her birthday gift to the boy at him. "Here. This way I can get Luce off my back. Congratulations on making it though another year of life."

Reborn cocked an eyebrow at the girl, but slowly opened the box. But more important than the gift was the surge of memories that came back with it.

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><p><strong>Extra<strong>

Reborn knew that the strange brunette was in trouble. He may not have hyper intuition like the Ninth, and perhaps Tsuna, but he trusted his gut. And right now, his gut was telling him to find the girl soon or she wasn't going to be around any longer. His insect spies had spotted a group of people taking the girl hostage, and now the hitman just had to make it to the classroom they were torturing her in, in time.

The hitman's blood ran cold when he heard the familiar voice cry out in pain. He didn't know whether to curse or thank his exceptional hearing, seeing as he was still outside the building, but at least he knew for sure exactly where the girl was.

When he slammed the door open and fired the warning shot to make the others back away from the brunette, a small part of him was able to register that he was surprised with how pissed the sight of the mangled and beaten brunette made him. But perhaps that was just his _slightly_ (it wasn't really as bad as others said it was) possessive streak, saying that only he was allowed to beat up the brunette. The anger was so overwhelming that the hitman proceeded to beat all five of the other students into a sobbing, barely coherent or conscious, condition. He wanted to torture them more, but Tsuna's condition was more pressing. So he left the students where they were, fully intending to come back later and continue with his punishment.

However, later it wasn't Reborn who returned but Colonello, Lal, and Fon. The five students had thanked their lucky stars and begged for help, thinking that the Arcobaleno intended to help them. But to their horror, the five were instead transported to a shack in the middle of the forest, which they hadn't been aware that existed at all.

For the first day, they were beaten till they were unconscious. Every time they woke up, there was a new Arcobaleno waiting for them, and they would go through all sorts of torture. A few days into this routine, Reborn finally returned. But he would use some strange ability and heal all their wounds and keep them from falling unconscious anymore. The torture became a thousand times worse then. Their pain always felt fresh, unable to become numb like the other few days. And the sense of relief that came from the healing portion only made the pain feel that much worse.

Finally after a whole another week, the five were set free, though specific portions of their memory was wiped away. But even though they couldn't remember exactly who had tortured them so, they felt an incredible fear toward the Arcobaleno and they knew not to mess with 'Dame-Tsuna' ever again. Even negative thoughts murmured by the other students sent a stab of fear through the five offenders' hearts, and they couldn't help but cower in fear.

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><p><strong>The lesson here is to never seriously piss off one of the Arcobaleno. <strong>

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	18. Chapter 18 Memoires of a Forgotten Past

**I _LIVE!_ TTwTT I thought I was going to die today, but it's all over and done with and I'm allowed to slack off for a couple months! And a combination of after exam highs and wonderful reviews made this chapter come out like snap! Happy days!**

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><p>Chapter 18 Memoires of a Forgotten Past<p>

_He was upset. They had been pulling the strings behind his existence and now they were going to force him into the position of the next sun Arcobaleno. He had run off, as far as possible, and had ended up in some random spot in japan of all places. He didn't know why he went to a small island country of all things, considering he was more likely to be cornered here. But something drew him here, a gut feeling if he must put words to it. The small field he had ended up was very peaceful. The lake and trees rippled in the breeze. He felt like he could actually relax and let his guard down._

_There was a rustle of branches being pushed away and the pitter patter of feet coming closer._

_He sighed. So he couldn't relax after all._

_The boy turned around to see a little girl break into the clearing with a little fisted hand rubbing one of her tear stained eyes. He glared at her in the hope of scaring her away. He was fully expecting her to have a tantrum and tell him to leave the area because it was her secret spot and she wasn't going to share, or maybe that she didn't want boys covered in cooties infecting her play place, or even trying to force him to play with her, like all the other girls in the world would have._

_But when the girl looked up, not only did she look up and not run away, but she didn't start throwing a tantrum or run up to play games with him. Instead her tears slowed to a stop and she began to study him._

"_Who are you?" The girl asked in a curious, yet wary soft voice._

_The boy blinked in surprise, and out of his glare. This wasn't the reaction he had been expecting. Weren't little girl's louder and more annoying? All the ones in his class and even the upper grades were irritating. He regarded the girl carefully before answering. "My name is Reborn."_

_The little scrunched up her nose, in a cute sort of a way, trying to figure out how to pronounce the obviously foreign language based name. "Rebwown?"_

_The boy chuckled. It wasn't the first time his name had been mispronounced that way before, but for some odd reason, this time he found it amusing. At least this girl wasn't purposely mispronouncing it._

_The little girl blushed, but offered a small apologetic smile. "Sorry. I'm so useless. All my classmates call me Dame-Tsuna because of it. Maybe I can think of something else to call you."_

_Reborn watched with a raised eyebrow as the girl crossed her arms and practically glared at the ground, like it would give her the answers she needed if she did. This 'Tsuna' girl was interesting. She had a peaceful and calming air to her, making him feel like he could relax after all._

"_I got it!" The small brunette exclaimed. She smiled. "I'll call you Leon!"_

_Reborn deadpanned. Huh? How did that girl come to _that_ conclusion? Sure it sort of sounded similar to his own name, but… He raised an eyebrow at the girl in hopes that she would understand his confusion._

"_My papa, Gio-nii and his family are Italian! So I know how to speak a little too! And since on our first meeting you're wearing a yellow shirt and because you have a really, really, _really_, strong aura, you made me think of a lion! And Lion in Italian is Leone. So if we just take off the extra 'e', we have Leon! Cool name right?" The girl finished excitedly. Reborn could practically see stars radiating from her. _

_He hunched over from the might of suppressing his laughter. This was such a strange girl, and what she said was actually really ridiculous. But at the same time it was a cute sort of stupidity. Reborn smiled behind his hand, he hadn't felt like laughing for real in a really long time. He actually didn't think he'd even be able to smile after what he and the others had been told today, but here he was now. This girl was really something special._

_Reborn finally straightened and looked at the girl as emotionlessly as he could. "You can call me whatever you want, since you're the one who can't say my name."_

"_Yay!" The small brunette cheered, completely missing (or perhaps ignoring) the intentional jibe at her inability to say his name despite being able to speak a little Italian. She smiled brightly and held out her hand. "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, but lots of people call me Tsuna, and my mama, papa, and Gio-nii call me Tsu-chan!"_

_Reborn raised his eyebrows slightly, catching the way she addressed herself in the Asian surname, first name style despite the handshake. He shook her hand lightly. "It's nice to meet you Sawada-san-"_

"_Tsu-chan! You can call me Tsu-chan!" The brunette interrupted._

"_But don't Japanese usually bow when they meet someone?" Reborn continued anyways._

_The little girl tilted her head to the side. "But, you're Italian too, right? That's why I used Italian for your nickname and not Japanese."_

_Reborn frowned. How did that girl know that? He didn't even know her. "Why do you think that?"_

_Tsuna placed a small skinny index finger to her chin in thought. "I'm not really sure. Sometimes I get this feeling in my tummy and it has always been right. So when I tried thinking of a name, I just got this feeling that you were like my papa and Gio-nii, so I thought you were Italian too. My mama calls it my intuition. Am I wrong?"_

_Reborn shook his head hesitantly. "No…You're right."_

_The little girl smiled brightly again. __"See! My intuition was right again! Say, I don't see you around town. Did you just move here?"_

_Reborn shook his head._

"_Hm~? So you've lived here for a while? You must be like Kyoya, and like to be alone most of the time." Tsuna suddenly looked guilty. "I'm sorry. You must have come here to be alone too, huh?"_

_Reborn turned to look at the pond. "It's fine."_

_It was surprising really. He hadn't expected to be so okay with another child his age, and a girl at that, to be so easy to get along with. Reborn actually didn't mind her presence like he would with others, even the other Arcobaleno electives too annoying to be around most of the time. He had never actually enjoyed the presence of another before. He had become a powerful hitman, so he was always cautious around others, wary of a sudden attack. So it was a nice change._

_The little girl smiled at his answer and told him about herself and her friends. Reborn just sat next on the grass, listened, and watched. The girl's expressions were amusing to say the least and Reborn was actually able to allow himself to let his guard down and relax without worry around her. But as she kept talking, Reborn started to think back to how she had first arrived and why she was all sunshine and smiles now._

"_You implied earlier that you came here to be alone, and you came here crying," he had finally decided to speak out his curiosity. "Why?"_

_Tsuna looked down at the blue water and hugged her knees. "Oh…well…I felt like if I wasn't able to finally cry, that I was going to explode and break apart. And I can't cry in front of Mama, Papa, Gio-nii, or anyone else anymore, so I came here."_

"_Then why don't you?" Reborn asked softly. He never felt the need to cry before, but he understood the feeling of being about to burst._

_The little brunette looked up with a smile, surprising the boy. "Because when I met you, it was like all the clouds were blown away by a bright and powerful sun."_

_Reborn felt himself smile and a warm sensation fill his chest. He was so used to taking away from others, and was unfamiliar of helping someone like this before, so it felt nice. He smirked and let his teasing personality shine through as well. "You sure have weird analogies."_

"_What? That's mean Leon! And don't use big words that I can't understand!" Tsuna exclaimed, waving her hands in the air._

_But Reborn continued to smirk. Teasing this girl was fun too._

_Suddenly the small brunette stopped pouting and turned to look at Reborn with sad eyes. "I have to go now…Will I get to see you again, Leon?"_

_Reborn thought a bit. He had actually come quite a distance to be here, but it wouldn't be difficult for him to some back, he supposed. Plus, he would like to visit this girl more often as well, not that he would admit that he looked forward to seeing her again. "I guess I'll be here tomorrow if it's not raining."_

_The little girl brightened instantly. "Okay then! I'll come here every day at this time as long as it's not raining! Bye-bye Leon!"_

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><p><em>Reborn met up with the little girl several more times. Many of the times she would come crying and then brighten up when she saw him, like the very first time they met. But her tears became increasingly more difficult to stop as time wore on. Yet, somehow Reborn didn't mind. He would sit by her side, listen to her story, and then (unless it wasn't appropriate) he would tease her into a smile again.<em>

_But he had to admit, that he didn't have the best picture of her friends. While Tsuna would always tell him about all the fun she would have with her friends and their big brothers, Reborn could also see that they were the cause of a great deal of emotional pain. If they were as wonderful and kind as Tsuna described, how come they couldn't see how upset she was or how many bruises littered her skin?_

_Reborn started making a point of using his sun flames in small amounts when the two met at the small field, healing her wounds without her noticing. He couldn't heal them all because then it would look suspicious, and the bullies might hurt her more because of it. But just to get rid of the small ones or to ease the more ugly ones. He also brought a small first aid kit to bandage her scratches._

_These wounds led Reborn to have a bad view of her parents as well. They were her parents, so they of all people should be able to see their child's internal and external wounds. Even Reborn's adopted parents were able to see that much, and he was _way_ better at hiding his injuries!_

_He hated it the most when Tsuna would look at him with her small broken smile and tell him that it was okay and at least the others were happy. That sort of self-sacrifice would lead her to either crash and burn into an irreparable emotional mess or to her death. The latter scared him, because for some reason he felt some sort of truth to those words. It shouldn't have been possible for someone leading such a peaceful life, but for some reason he felt like it could come to light very easily._

_But Reborn swallowed those feelings and focused on conveying to the little girl to stay away from such dangers and to stray from such emotions that could taint her pure light and potentially break her. He could only really hope that the other pathetic children in her school would see how cute Tsuna was, and stop hurting her soon. But for now he would be her guiding light, he could never be any more than that._

* * *

><p>"<em>Hey Leon!" The small brunette said happily during one of the few days she didn't come crying. "Do you know what Gio-nii is?"<em>

_Reborn fought a grimace at the name. Whoever that kid was, he really didn't like him. Tsuna talked about that Gio-nii the most. "What?"_

"_Gio-nii is my prince or a knight in shining armor! And one day, he's going to give me a happily ever after!" Tsuna smiled brightly and placed the wreath of flowers that she had made onto her head._

_The remnants of Reborn's good mood were completely gone now. That stupid idiot that made Tsuna cry so often had more of her heart than he could ever hope to have._

"_But you know what?" Tsuna continued. "You're like an angel to me, Leon!"_

_Reborn looked up in surprise._

_Tsuna's smile turned warm and grateful. "You're my guardian angel. You make all the shadows go away with one look! It's almost like you're not even real and that if I told anyone, then you'd disappear. That's why I haven't told Gio-nii or anyone else about you or this secret spot! I'm probably being selfish, but I don't want anyone to make you go away."_

_Reborn smirked and poked the small brunette between her eyebrows. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're just selfish Baka-Tsuna." He sighed and shook his head with a shrug. "But I guess I'm going to have to put up with that since you're so much fun to tease."_

"_Leon! You're so mean!" Tsuna blew a raspberry at the boy, but then burst into a fit of giggles and tried to put a wreath of flowers around his head as well. But once she had, she scrunched up her face. "You look silly with flowers on your head."_

_A vein popped on the boy's temple and he was about to flick the girl for her comment, but she ran over to a bush and took out a box she had hidden there before she walked into the clearing that day._

"_I think this fits you much better! You would look really cool in this!" Tsuna placed the bow bearing box on his lap. "Happy Birthday Leon!"_

_Reborn blinked in surprise once again and slowly moved to unwrap and open the box. Seated carefully inside was a black fedora with an orange band going around its base. He smiled a little and placed it on his head at a tilt._

_Tsuna smiled and clapped her hands. "Yay! It fits!"_

"_Thanks," the boy muttered then leaned over to look at his reflection in the lake. He smirked, liking how it made him look more sinister and dangerous. His smirk grew when Tsuna visibly shuddered._

_But she suddenly placed her hands on her hips and directed a serious look at the boy and raised a finger, waving it at him as she lectured. "Now you have to promise not to get a new one after this one doesn't fit anymore, okay?"_

_Reborn raised an eyebrow at the girl. "And why should I do that?"_

"_Because when that one doesn't fit you anymore, I'm going to buy you another one for your birthday!" Tsuna exclaimed, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So you have to wait till then!"_

_Reborn sighed and shook his head mockingly again. "I should have known that you lacked so much creativity and were so lazy about birthday gifts."_

_Red splashed across the girl's face. "That isn't it at all Baka-Leon."_

_Reborn chuckled, but reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small box and tossed it at the girl. "Since we can't meet tomorrow, I'm giving this to you today."_

_The little girl opened her box to see a silvery ring with a pink gem inside. She smiled at first, then grimaced. "You don't mean anything weird giving me this, do you?"_

_Reborn scowled. "Where I come from, rings have more than one meaning, Baka-Tsuna. Anyways, there's a chain you could put it on so that you can wear it around your neck instead. That way you no one else will be able to see it."_

_Tsuna brightened and immediately did as instructed. She held the ring out on her hand, it was as big as her palm since she was so small. "Thank you very, very much Leon!"_

_Her smile that day was the brightest and the best thing in the world. She called him her light. But it was same in the reverse. Tsuna had somehow become Reborn's light. Around Tsuna he was able to feel so normal, so _human_, and needed for something that didn't hurt others. He felt more like the sun that the others had categorized him as. Tsuna made him feel like it was okay to be liked by others and that it was okay that he wasn't alone, like he didn't have to punish himself for the job he was given._

* * *

><p>"<em>Leon, you're the best!" Tsuna exclaimed.<em>

_Reborn flicked the girl's forehead lightly. "That much should have been obvious from day one."_

_Tsuna stuck out her tongue before smiling again. "Well I know that!"_

_Reborn smiled as usual, but he was actually very upset. After today, he wouldn't be able to come to this clearing anymore, because he would be inheriting the title of Sun Arcobaleno officially. This meant that he would be under closer surveillance for now on, and he didn't want to draw unwanted attention to Tsuna._

_Tsuna smiled sadly. "Leon is the best because he is very kind and caring. He always comes here to make me feel better, even though I'm just wasting his time. And even now Leon is trying to figure out how to say good-bye without hurting Tsu-chan, right?"_

_Reborn's eyebrows shot up in surprise (he would never be able to get over how easily this girl was able to bring out and read all his emotions)._

_Tears that escaped through the corners of her eyes were hastily rubbed away. She looked up with a bright smile, though tears clung to the corners of her eyes still. "Today Tsu-chan is going to smile. I don't want the last think you remember of Tsu-chan to be of Tsu-chan being a big crybaby."_

_The corner of Reborn's mouth twitched as he kept himself from looking upset as well. Instead he smirked. "You're reverting back to baby talk again by saying your name instead of saying I or me."_

_It was intentional on the brunette's part, but none of them commented on it. Instead they reveled in the usual banter that they had created during their time together. Tsuna would say something foolish and Reborn would tease her for it, giving the two of them something to smile about as their time wound down. But Reborn knew that the younger child could not hold out forever, despite how strong she was._

_When their time started to run over their usual span of visiting hours, Tsuna finally couldn't hold her tears back anymore, though her smile remained in place. "I was going to smile. When I woke up today, I knew that it would be the last time. So I promised myself that this time I would smile and I wouldn't weigh Leon down with my troubles again. I didn't want you to worry about me when you leave. I wanted to be strong for Leon, because Leon has always been strong for me. But for some reason I can't stop crying. It just won't stop."_

_Reborn ruffled the girl's hair affectionately. "Stupid Tsuna. I already told you that it's okay to cry."_

_The little girl's smile faded and she jumped forward to cling to the boy's shirt. And Reborn let her. Even though he was wearing his suit (being one of Tsuna's favorite outfits on him), he allowed her tears to soak through, while he just hugged her and rubbed her back._

_When she had calmed down a little, she let go and took a step back, her smile back in place. "Even though I'll miss you a lot, Leon, I know that someday we'll be able to see each other again. When I'm strong enough, I promise to find you."_

_Reborn smiled a little bit too and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small wooden box and placed it into the small girl's hands. "Then you can hold on to this for me, and when you finally find me, then you can return it. But you have to keep it safe, okay? It's really important to me."_

_Tsuna opened the box to see another silvery ring, but this time it had a bright and sparkly yellow gem. _

"_This will be the physical proof of our promise. We'll definitely see each other again." Reborn smirked confidently._

_Tsuna smiled brightly and clutched the now closed box close to her heart. "It's a promise!"_

* * *

><p>Reborn was tempted to groan out loud. Not only had he just remembered a surge of his childhood memories, but more importantly, he had remembered that he was the one who said something so humiliating cliché. And there was no way in hell that he was going to admit such a thing to Tsuna, since that would also be admitting that he insulted himself. Not to mention the bombardment of emotions that came with those memories, but those had to be analyzed when he was alone and free to think about these things with a closer inspection.<p>

"Well? What do you think?" The troublesome brunette asked, plopping down on the couch next the boy. She crossed one leg over the other and placed her elbow on her knee so that her hand could support her head. "I thought it would look good on you. You should look pretty decent in this."

No, no. This girl really had to stop talking. Even her freaking wording was almost the same. It was just older sassy Tsuna talk now instead. Reborn was tempted to sigh. This new set of emotions was very distracting, and frankly, annoying too.

"What? Nothing? Is my gift really that bad?" Tsuna scowled at the boy.

Reborn put on his usual smirk and pulled out the fedora with the orange band, placing it atop his head at a slant. "It's perfect." He looked over and actually _smiled_ at the bored looking girl. "Thanks."

Tsuna's heart skipped a beat.

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><p><strong>This chapter was actually going to be a little bit longer, but it just felt better to end it like that!<strong>

**So? So? So? Whatdjya think? (My apologies, I feel really hyper right now. ^^")**

**Reviews are lovely!**


	19. Chapter 19 Denial

**Sorry for the late update! DX But if you saw my newest story, then you'd know why. A stupid plot bunny attacked me for days on end, running me into the ground till it got as many chapters for a new story out. However, I don't think it turned out too bad. A number of people seem to enjoy it. So if you have time, feel free to check out Sentiment is a Sin, which is a reader insert.**

**I want to say a GRANDE THANK YOU to: Yoshikuni Itoe, InK4bLoOd, Musica Famiglia, okinanimallover, TheKawaiiStar21, Noname-NN, Lady Syndra, R3iga1004, Mad31line, BrokenBlackCat, Kildosad, Lorem tenebrae, gor not gore, Kirimi-1999, dream-of-silent-death, AoKuroUsagi16238, LoveofWarriors1998, AnimeLover3, hammanop, Ayz283, UploaderToo, AccessBlade, ezcap1st, AkaiNamida, Msdgirl, hinamori chrome, VenomRogue, and Snowrose for all of your lovely reviews! I'll try to get out a second chapter out this week for all of you!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>Chapter 19 Denial<p>

"Hiiiiiiiiie! Luuuuuuucee!" Tsuna shouted running away from the hitman.

"What's wrong Tsu-chan?" The older girl asks kindly.

"Reborn is plotting something absolutely horrible! That look was horrible! I thought I saw my life pass right before my eyes just now!" The brunette told the older girl in a horrified voice. She was shaking and clutching the back of the woman's dress, so that Luce was between Tsuna and certain death.

Luce looked over her shoulder. "And what look was that."

Tsuna paled even further. "He _smiled_." She shivered violently and proceeded to make herself as small as possible so that she would be completely hidden behind her senior's form, coincidentally missing the mischievous glint in the older female's eyes.

The hitman narrowed his eyes and whacked the girl upside the head. "That's not how you're supposed to treat a thank you, Dame-Tsuna."

"That wasn't a thank you! That was Reborn talk for: I'm planning something so horrible that you'll want to die!" Tsuna shouted from behind her senior.

Reborn rolled his eyes. "You're so overdramatic."

Luce's smile widened. "You _smiled_ at Tsuna-chan, Reborn-_kun_?"

The hitman narrowed his eyes. He disliked such honorifics being added to his name. But before he could reply, a loud shout interrupted him.

"VOOOOII! Brat! Where the hell are you?"

Lusseria popped out of nowhere and practically tackled the small brunette, squealing all the way. "Tsu-chan! Is so adorable in that dress! You have to come shopping with me!"

Tsuna's eye twitched as she struggled for air. '_Oh merciful god, someone save me._'

"Come on Tsu-chan! Boss has been so anxious to see you!" Lusseria squealed, pulling the poor brunette over to the very relaxed and definitely _unconcerned_ looking teen lying on one of the couches.

Tsuna let out a huff when she was practically dumped on a chair next to the older teen. Raising a hand in a halfhearted salute, she greeted the other. "Didn't figure you were the type to come to these sorts of things, so what brings you."

Xanxus didn't answer, just flipping what looked like a coin at the girl. But when Tsuna caught it she saw that it was a black ring with 'Varia" inscribed in red with silver outlining the letters.

"Ara? So you're under Varia protection now," Mammon half explained.

'_I seem to be getting a lot of rings lately. At this rate I'll start looking like Gokudera-kun._' Tsuna smiled a little. "Thank you Xanxus."

There was flash and everyone looked over at Lusseria. "Moooouu! Look how cute you two are!" The colorful member shoved his camera in front of the two. "This picture is definitely a keeper! I'm going to frame this for boss and you, Tsu-chan!"

"Oi! Dame-Tsuna. Luce is calling for you, are you deaf as well?" Reborn demanded, barging into the group and pulling the girl away.

"Hey! Chibi!" G grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled.

Tsuna was pulled out of the hitman's grasp and tugged to another group. '_I'm going to need new appendages at this rate,_' she briefly considered as she was yanked across the room.

"Happy birthday, Tsu-chan!" Giotto called out happily, pulling the girl into a warm hug. "All of us left our gifts in your room to open late, 'kay?"

"Ah, thanks," Tsuna replied with a small smile. She was losing her positive energy. She'd smiled more today than she had the rest of the year combined.

"Congratulations!" Asari added.

"We're glad you're willing to celebrate your birthday again," Knuckles agreed.

"Oh? This was my birthday celebration? I thought it was a party for me acing my last test," Tsuna said sarcastically. But she paid for her remark the next second when Reborn whacked the back of her head. "Itai! Dammit stupid Reborn! What the hell was that for?"

"You have yet to get rid of that smartass streak, that's what," the hitman retorted. "It's very unlady like."

"Screw that. Why the fuck would I want to be lady-like in that sense," Tsuna griped, rubbing the sore spot on her head.

"Need to get rid of that potty mouth too," Reborn said, but it seemed like he was more amused than actually serious.

Tsuna laughed. "You're just as bad as Gio-nii then! You two complain like old women."

"I'm _nothing_ like him!" The blond retorted indignantly.

Reborn flicked the girl's forehead. "Don't compare me to idiots."

Tsuna smiled despite the small injury. It had been so long since she had felt so much warmth and trust surrounding her. Everyone here was her family and each one of them was trying their best to help her open up and trust them in return. She was almost complete…Almost.

The brunette turned toward the student council members with her shoulders squared. "Giotto, everyone…Could you invite your siblings back to the school for a few days? I think I'm ready to see them again."

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><p>Reborn was walking Tsuna back to room, having been kicked out by Luce before anyone else could notice, and was thinking about what the brunette had requested of her older brother figures. He glanced at the girl who was walking next to him with a small smile and humming a tuneless song.<p>

"So what brought the sudden change?" The hitman asked out of the blue.

"Hm?" The girl turned toward the other teen curiously, understanding flooded her features when she absorbed the whole question. She smiled nervously and scratched her cheek, pink tinting her cheeks. "Well…Honestly…you did…"

Reborn raised an eyebrow, encouraging the girl to elaborate.

Tsuna looked away pointedly and laced her fingers behind her back. "Although you irritating as hell, you were sort of right. I shouldn't hold onto the past the way I was. I also shouldn't hide behind a mask. If they're really my friends, then they'll accept me for who I am, even if I don't need their protection…You know, you really remind me of my friend Leon."

If Reborn was anyone else, he might have choked. But as a professional of hiding emotions, he was able to maintain a neutral expression. "And why is that?"

"Well, Leon used to tell me that I shouldn't hide away information about me to my friends, because friends are supposed to accept you as you are and not who you think they want you to be. You see, I used to be quite the crybaby and Leon would always make me feel better!"

Reborn mulled over the information slowly before picking out his next question carefully. "Do you remember what your friend looked like?"

Tsuna scrunched up her face. "…No…Not really. Whenever I try to remember, I can never see his face. But I know that he was super handsome! I bet that he has girls throwing themselves at his feet now, practically begging to just touch him!" Tsuna nodded seriously, crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

'_Well she got that part correct,_' Reborn thought a little ruefully. "So what was Leon like?"

"He was super nice! He always listened to me and made me feel better! Leon also helped tutor me! He was _way_ better than both Gio-nii and Gokudera-kun combined! I think Leon was secretly a super genius!" Tsuna informed her companion excitedly. "He was also super strong and athletic! Leon was absolutely amazing! He could do anything and everything in the world! Sometimes Leon sounded a little mean, but I know that whatever he said was to help because he always made me smile again, even when I was crying!"

It was almost ridiculous how her simple words could be such an ego booster. However, why couldn't she see the similarities between Leon and Reborn? It frustrated the hitman.

Tsuna faltered a little, her energetic smile falling to something more tender and nostalgic. "Leon…he was my will the live when I was kidnapped…When my parents or any of my other friends didn't save me, I would remember that Leon promised that we would see each other again. So I even when the pain made me want to die, I would always throw that thought away and focus on that promise…Leon was the only person who really understood me at that time. He was the _one_ person I could really count on."

Reborn pondered about Tsuna's words. He never thought that his existence could ever provide such support. He was so used to taking lives by now and people expecting (and even wishing for) death when they thought of him, so it was refreshing and…nice change.

He smiled a little, but hid it away before the brunette could see and freak out again. That would be too troublesome. "Do you remember his hair or eye color?"

"Um…No. But I remember that his eyes were really warm! And confusing! And really scary!"

Reborn deadpanned. "Which is it?"

"It depended on the situation. Well, he was always confusing. It was like he was putting up a wall to protect himself from others reading him. But when he talked to me, there was always a warm look. It always made me feel like the sun was shining down on me, warming me and blowing my troubles away. But then he could also be _really_ scary. This one time a wolf came out and was going to attack us, but Leon just glared at it and the wolf ran away whimpering! It was so cool! He didn't even touch it and that animal ran away!"

Reborn remembered that day. When he realized that he was full on glaring, he had been so afraid that the little brunette would also fear him, but she had hugged him and thanked him with her eyes practically showering sparkles. It had struck him at that time that the girl was either highly trusting of him or a complete idiot, probably both.

Reborn shook his head to clear away the memory before turning back to the girl. Maybe he would give her a hint to see if she could make the connection. "Did Leon like to wear anything in particular that most kids wouldn't?"

"Hm?" Tsuna glanced at the other teen peculiarly. "Well, yeah, he did actually. Leon liked to wear suits. I don't think I ever saw him wearing any casual clothes. Too bad he isn't here. You two would get along with that aspect. But that's actually another reason you two are so similar."

Reborn took back nearly every kind thing he ever thought about this girl. She was a complete idiot. Wasn't she supposed to gain a brain as she got older? "Did you ever get him any gifts?"

Tsuna hummed a bit in thought. "Not that I can remember…"

Perhaps that was the key! If Reborn could get Tsuna to remember that particular moment, then perhaps she would be able to make the connection then.

"Say, Reborn? Why do _you_ care all of the sudden?" Tsuna inquired suspiciously.

"I want to find this person so that I can see what's so great about him," the hitman replied smoothly. It wasn't completely a lie. Initially when he didn't know that _he_ was actually Leon, he had wanted to find this person.

Tsuna narrowed her eyes doubtfully. But her intuition hadn't really flared up, so it must be true…Still…she trusted Reborn about as far as she could throw him. "Right~ So what about you?"

"What _about_ me?" Reborn retorted.

Tsuna stuck out her tongue. "I mean, do you have a childhood friend? Though, I doubt it. Who on earth would be insane enough to willingly stand you for that long?"

Reborn smirked. Ooooh~ How he was going to throw that comment back in her face when she finally remembered. "I did, actually."

"You mean the other Arcobaleno members right?"

"Well, them too, but I actually had a civilian friend. A little girl I met by coincidence." Reborn decided that he might as well play a little game with the brunette, as it would be amusing to see her reaction when she was finally able to realize who Leon really was.

"Oh my god! Is she alright?" Tsuna gasped in horror. "You killed her didn't you!"

Reborn scowled and flicked the brunette's forehead. "I'm capable of maintaining a relationship with a normal person without killing them Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna snorted, but motioned for the teen to continue. "What was she like?"

"Stupid," Reborn deadpanned. "But nice. She wasn't whiney or annoying like all the other girls, and she had an ability that intrigued me. I ended up traveling from this school to her place in another country and back several times. I would try to come visit her every day I possibly could."

"Wow. Going out of country to visit some random little girl? I didn't think you had it in you."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Dame-Tsuna," the hitman retorted.

"Touché," Tsuna agreed. "So again, what was she like?"

"Short and kind of cute. She always had her hair up in these ridiculous pigtails that her mom styled and she was obsessed with the color orange. She was bluntly honest and she had a lot of problems back home. She also had a knack for getting herself in trouble, whether it was getting hurt from her extreme clumsiness or pissing off random bullies. Needless to say, she was bullied a lot. In my opinion she had a bunch of rotten friends and parents that were never around for her when she needed them to be, but she said she loved and cared about all of them anyway."

Tsuna smiled sadly. "She must have been nice. Where is she now?"

"I had to stop seeing her a few years back, but now I get to visit her every so often. She's attending school with her friends and is making more. There were a few problems, but she's getting out of it."

Tsuna's smile brightened. "And does this mystery girl have a name?"

This one stumped Reborn. He could just deny Tsuna any right to know the 'mysterious girl's' name, but that might be suspicious and he didn't want to give away her identity either. Reborn wanted Tsuna to remember on her own. Suddenly one particular memory popped into his mind. "Natsu."

Tsuna scrunched up her nose. "Isn't that a boy's name? Then again, who am I to talk. So does Natsu attend an academy like ours? Or does she go to a regular public school."

"She actually attends this school," the hitman said truthfully.

"Oh? Then why don't you go torture her instead of me?"

"You're more fun to tease, plus she isn't aware of my true identity." This was true. At that time, Tsuna hadn't known that Reborn was an assassin.

Tsuna sighed. "Well damn. And I was so sure that I was going to be able to get rid of you for a second there."

The raven haired teen smirked. "Not likely, Dame-Tsuna."

When Tsuna's door came into view, Tsuna suddenly chuckled. "This was actually a lot of fun tonight." She turned and smiled brightly at the assassin. "Thank you, Reborn."

"Right." Reborn tipped his fedora and nodded to the girl.

He kept his pace slow and casual, but he really wanted to get away as fast as possible so that there was absolutely no chance that Tsuna was able to catch the small blush highlighting his cheekbones. Her bright smile had caught him by surprise and after everything that occurred tonight, he really wasn't prepared for such a warm and thankful smile directed toward him, and him alone.

It wasn't like he liked her or anything, it was just that he was so used to people glaring or leering at him. Or studying him like he's some tool, or worshiping him. But Tsuna was just…warm. Like she was just staring at a friend or companion that she trusted. And that was another thing. She trusted him, an _assassin_. But it was nice to have that sort of attention. Then again, she was technically an assassin too. But that made her gaze all the more…special. The fact that she could look at someone that way despite her occupation was definitely a gift. Well, Luce was the same. However the feeling they gave was a little different.

"Dolce sogno, Tsuna."

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><p><strong>A sweet little ending for you! ;)<strong>

**Reviews are lovely!**


	20. Chapter 20 Psychotic Marshmallows

**Yay! Here's another chapter! Check out my profile for the reason for my slower updates, and I'm really sorry about that! But I want to mention that I finally caved and went to check out that 'Skip Beat' story and it's actually kind of scary how eerily similar my thought process was to that, which is why I refuse to finish reading it for fear that it'll start influencing my story.**

**I want to say thank you to: Musica Famiglia, Yoshikuni Itoe, AoKuroUsagi16238, KagamineRin81, luipyon, Sofimiscat, Ayz283, BrokenBlackCat, Lorem tenebrae, Mad31lina, VenomRogue, xXScarlatto-OokamiXx, LoveofWarriors1998, lolo MN, Kichou, SavedForever, MyMysteriousSoul, TheKawaiiStar21, Noname-NN, ezcap1st, inari92, Snowrose, RagingTempestaCx, and SkyFlameLitMoon23! YOu guys are the best and this chapter is for you!**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>Chapter 20 Psychotic Marshmallows<p>

Down the hall. Turn left. No, it was too obvious. She had to run faster, he was gaining on her. She could feel it. Her lungs were burning, but she had to keep going. She needed to get away. She needed to hide. Hide here? No, to easy. Where? _Where_? _**Where**_?

Here!

The door to the Arcobaleno Association's meeting room slammed open and the eight occupants looked up to see an out of breath and panicked Tsunayoshi.

"Tsu-chan?" Luce was the first to speak up. "What's wrong?"

The brunette either couldn't hear her or was ignoring her upperclassman, whichever way she didn't answer. Instead, she ran over to the small storage closet in the back of the room and crawled inside. "Hide. Gotta hide! He's coming," she was muttering repeatedly.

"What on earth?" Lal muttered.

But their question was answered a moment later when their door opened again.

"Tsunayoshi-kun! Where are you~?" A sickeningly sweet voice called out. The intruder was actually very familiar to all of the Arcobaleno, easily identified with his white hair, purple tattoo under his eye, and bag of marshmallows.

"Byakuran, what are you doing here?" Luce asked politely.

"Ara? So this is the Arcobaleno's room, ne?" Byakuran asked with his usual creepy smile in place. "I would like to chat Luce-chan, but I'm looking for someone. Have any of you seen her?"

"And who would you be looking for?" Fon asked.

"It better not be any of your runaway students?" Lal threatened.

Byakuran shook his head. "No~! It's a funny little girl. She's a little short and has brown hair and eyes!"

Colonello rolled his eyes. "If you hadn't noticed, you just described about a quarter of our female population, kora!"

Byakuran tilted his head. "Yes, but this one is special. She has S class sky flames!"

"The only female in this school known to have sky flames of that purity is Luce," Reborn told the albino.

"Nuh uh uuuh~! Tsu-chan has S rank sky flames too! Silly Reborn-kun! I already know that all of you have met her! So can you tell me where my little rabbit was hiding?" Byakuran finally opened his eyes, succeeding in making himself looking even more dangerous.

Mammon sighed and stowed away the stack of cash he had been counting. "What do you want with her anyways. If you can't find her, then I'm sure it's because she doesn't want to see you."

"I want to invite her to visit my school!" Byakuran cheered. "I'm sure that once she sees it in person, then she's love to transfer to Millefiore Academy!"

Tsuna shivered. She hoped that that man would leave, and soon. She wasn't scared easily, but something about the albino disturbed her heart. She wasn't sure what it was about him, but she wasn't willing to find out what either. Byakuran had started chasing Tsuna around when he met her a week after her transfer. After that first encounter, he had been inviting the brunette to transfer to his academy. The last time the teen had visited Vongola Academy, Tsuna was sure that he was going to kidnap her, had the student council members not arrived when they did.

"Well we'll tell Tsuna about your proposal and if she agrees then we'll fill out the proper paperwork so that she can go visit your academy," Luce said complacently. But if you listened closely, there was a steely undertone that implied that she wanted the boy to leave and return to where he was supposed to be.

"Uh oh! I seem to have anger our dear sky queen! I'll be on my way then," Byakuran sang. He waved jovially and left, all the while eyeing the closet in which the brunette had hidden herself.

Tsuna waited till the albino teen's presence had completely faded, and even then she didn't step out of her hiding spot. She glanced over her knees when the door was opened by Reborn, but she still refused to budge from her position.

"I doubt I need to tell you that he's gone now," the hitman pointed out.

Tsuna shook her head. "Not from the Academy."

"What'd you do to get that guy's attention on you, kora?" Colonello called out.

Tsuna shook her head. "I don't know. With Reborn, it was because I didn't know him and disliked him. But with Byakuran, I just passed him while I was trying to find my way around the school. He was visiting the academy because he and Giotto were supposed to meet and get to know each other since they would be the next generation of Student Council presidents."

Luce paused the conversation so that she could coax the girl out of the small closet. She didn't let them continue questioning the girl until she was seated on the couch with a cup of tea nestled in her hands. "So what happened?"

"Yeah, was he like that when you first met him?" Skull chipped in.

For some reason Tsuna deadpanned. "When I first met him, I thought he was the king of idiots."

"And why is that?" Fon asked calmly. He didn't snicker like Colonello and Skull did, nor smirk like Reborn, Lal, Mammon, and Verde.

Tsuna grimaced. "Because…"

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><p><em>Flashback<em>

_Tsuna glared at the map in her hands. Easy her foot! This map was _way_ more damned complicated than the stupid principal implied. "Forget this crap!" She tore the stupid thing up and threw it to the ground, stomping on it repeated._

"_Ara~ That must have been one annoying love note if you reacted like that."_

_Tsuna deadpanned and turned around to see a white haired teenager eating out of a bag of marshmallows. "Who the hell are you?"_

"_Hmm~" The kid hummed. "Isn't the polite thing supposed to be you introducing yourself first?"_

_Tsuna rolled her eyes. "Nooo~ Really? And here I thought I was being the nicest little girl here."_

_The albino teen laughed. "You're funny. I'm Gesso Byakuran, and who might you be?"_

_Tsuna stared at the teen, debating whether or not she should (or wanted to) answer. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, but I prefer Tsuna."_

"_Tsunayoshi-kun then!" The boy said cheerfully, completely disregarding her last statement. "Say, do you know where the student council main office is? I'm supposed to meet the next president, but I seem to have gotten a bit lost."_

"_I'm new here, so how the hell am I supposed to know?" Tsuna replied aloofly, shrugging her shoulders uncaringly._

"_Then we'll go on an adventure!" Byakuran declared, grabbing the brunette's wrist and tugging her along._

"_Hey!" Tsuna protested. "Let go! I never said I'd help you!"_

_Byakuran hummed to himself, ignoring the girl completely. "Let's see~, it looks like we're in between the middle and elementary school sections, and headmaster said I needed to find the building between the high school and middle school divisions. Hey, do you know where the high school is?" The boy looked over his shoulder to look at the struggling girl._

_Meanwhile, Tsuna was deliberating whether or not to use her full strength on the boy tugging her along. She glared at the teen when he repeated his question. "Like I said," she growled through clenched teeth, "I just transferred to this school, so I don't know where anything is. Hell, I didn't even know this was the elementary school division."_

_Byakuran smiled. "That's alright. Not knowing, makes finding the ultimate location more fun!"_

'This guy is a complete idiot!_' Tsuna raged to herself. She decided that she should use everything she had to get away from the boy, but when she dug her heels into the ground and pulled, the teen was still able to pull her along with him._

"_Wow, you're pretty strong for a little girl," the albino commented, glancing at her again._

_Tsuna gaped at the boy in shock, and not paying attention to her surroundings, she tripped. She hit the ground with an 'oof' and her new pocket watch was dislodged from her pocket and skittered across the ground. She sat up, grumbling curses under her breath and rubbing her palms. When she looked up, she saw her unwanted companion looking at her watch with a strange gleam in his eyes._

"_So you're an S rank sky flame user too?" The boy asked, handing the accessory back to the girl._

"_Um…I guess," the girl replied a little uncertainly, putting the watch away and standing up._

"_Did the headmaster give you anything else when he gave you that watch?" Byakuran suddenly asked, a calculative glint in his eyes._

_Tsuna narrowed her eyes and took a step back, placing a hand over the other object she had received. "How did _you_ know?"_

_Byakuran's smile grew wider and he opened his eyes._

_Tsuna shuddered and took another step back._

"_Would you like to transfer to my academy, Tsunayoshi-kun?" The albino asked abruptly, taking a step toward the girl._

_Tsuna took another step back in return. "What? I just finished transferring here, why the heck would I want to do that?"_

_Again, the male took another step toward the girl, following her as she backed away. "I think Tsunayoshi-kun would fit in much better at my school. You'd like it a lot there."_

"_I don't think I would," Tsuna counted, still backing away and slowly gaining speed. "It took a lot of convincing to get me here, so it would take ten times as much to make me even _consider _going to a different school." _

_She was just stalling now. She was trying to find a gap or distraction that would give her a chance for escape, because her intuition told her that a straight out attempt to run away would be futile. She gasped a little when her back hit a tree. _

_She was trapped._

"_I must insist." Byakuran raised a hand and reached for the girl, as if he was just going to ruffle her bangs. He was amused to see that she seemed to sense the danger in that small action and pressed herself into the trunk in an attempt to get out of his hand's line of trajectory._

_Tsuna's eyes widened a little and she stopped breathing._

"_There you are Byakuran." _

_Said boy froze and looked up around the other side of the tree. "Ah~ You must be Giotto-kun. I apologize for taking so long, I got a little lost."_

_Giotto nodded. "I figured as much. That's why I came out with the others to look for you."_

_Byakuran nodded then leaned forward so that he was whispering into the girl's ear, his hand on top of her head. "I'll see you later, ne…Tsunayoshi-kun…"_

_The boy then moved away and walked around the tree so that he could follow the blond to the correct location._

"_Who were you talking to?" Giotto questioned conversationally._

"_An interesting little rabbit that I've taken interest in," the other boy replied vaguely._

_Tsuna's knees gave out and she collapsed onto her rear when his presence completely faded. Her heart was pounding erratically and she was having trouble breathing. The brunette held up a hand to see it trembling violently. It had been a while since she felt so much fear. She hugged herself and ran back to her dorm, locking the door and crawling under her covers till later that night when Giotto and the others came to visit._

_Flashback end_

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><p>"After that I tried to avoid him, but he followed me around and kept trying to get us alone so that he could do whatever he was going to do the first time. I don't know what it was, but I'm not taking the chance to find out." Tsuna shuddered. "You can see why I avoid him whenever he visits the academy now."<p>

"That's also why boss built that little hiding spot," Mammon added. "That spot was built in so Tsuna could hide there whenever Byakuran came around."

"Why didn't you do it this time?" Verde inquired.

Tsuna shook her head. "Some others accompanied him this time, so I wasn't able to make it there in time."

"That explains why he's here a week early," Luce mused.

"He must have wanted to catch you by surprise," Lal agreed.

"Did you know that there are a bunch of other academies like this one," Luce suddenly brought up. She waited for Tsuna to nod hesitantly before continuing. "There is the Cavallone Academy, Gigleo Nero Academy, Millefiore Academy, and many others. I have a sister in the latter two that I mentioned. Aria holds my place as the student council president at the Gigleo Nero Academy since I became the sky Arcobaleno. My youngest sister is the second in command at the Millefiore Academy and looks after the Mare rings. There is another set of rings here at Vongola Academy and they form the-"

"Tri-ne-sette," Tsuna muttered.

The others turned to the girl in surprise.

"How did you know that, Tsuna?" Fon asked.

The brunette bit her lip. "Um…grandpa may or may not have mentioned something…"

Lal frowned. "Who is your grandpa?"

"Well…he's kind of…the headmaster here," Tsuna muttered. She didn't really want to ever tell anyone about her unwanted connections that landed her in this school.

"What did he say exactly?" Reborn asked.

Tsuna reached up and tugged on the chain hanging around her neck a few times before reaching for one of the rings attached. "He kind of asked me to hold onto this…"

The group stared in shock at the innocent silver and blue ring half resting on the girl's palm.

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><p><strong>Interersting, interesting no?<strong>

**Reviews are lovely!**


	21. Chapter 21 Outshining the Sun

_**WAIT**_**! **

**Before you start reading, I'd like to get something out of my system and it may pertain to you. While I'm glad that all of you enjoy this story, I do not need any of you to constantly PM me to ask when I'll be updating! I won't say who you are, but knock it off! I have a broken hand and a job, not to mention the other things that happen outside the computer! I don't spend every second of my life here, so I would appreciate you not harassing me every other day. It's a little difficult as it is and you are only killing my motivation to write. I like admirers. But I don't need someone breathing over my shoulder every second in between. That's when it moves into the area of harassment.**

**Deep breath.**

**Now, I would like to SAY a BIIIG THANK YOU to: devil190, Noname-NN, Guest 1, TheKawaiiStar21, Lady Syndra, ArcabalenoCanvas, Yoshikuni Itoe, cancer718, Iwataki, BrokenBlackCat, Ayz283, Lorem tenebrae, VenomRogue (Venna), xxOMGgalxx, mangopudding, Somfimiscat, Mad3lina, hinamori chrome, Stara-chi, AoKuroUsagi16238, WhatExistsInFalling, Kichou, tora-chan83, SelfcreatedCharacter, RagingTempestaCx, saphire644, Hime, .skies, Guest 2, Mythical-laf, Aira-Chama, for reviewing. It helped give me energy and patience to push past my predicaments and keep going!**

**ALSO! This is now officially mainly a RebornxTsuna pairing with a little GiottoxTsuna on the side.**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and understand why it's been taking me longer.**

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><p>Chapter 21 Outshining the Sun<p>

A little flip and his new head accessory was set in place. After making sure his suit was immaculate (like it ever wasn't), and his fedora was tilted a little so that he appeared more suave and dangerous, he turned toward his brunette companion, who had wondered in a few hours earlier with the excuse that she was just there to cook him breakfast. However, he knew better. He _always_ knew better. "You ready for this?"

The girl took a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah."

The two then exited the comforting walls of the former's dorm room and walked down the hallway, heading toward one of the student council members' personal meeting room. When they started to near the office buildings, the shorter of the two suddenly reached out and grabbed the older teen's arm. Reborn looked down with a slightly raised brow, causing the brunette to realize what she had done. Her grip slackened, but she didn't let go completely.

"Ah. Sorry, I just…Sorry…" Tsuna stared down at her toes, unable to bring herself to look at the other and show any more weakness on her part.

Reborn merely looked on ahead once again and kept his pace casual.

Tsuna smiled slightly and tightened her grip once more. "Thanks…"

They continued their walk, finally coming to a stop in front of an innocent pair of wooden doors. The last and final barrier between the brunette and her companions of the past. Yelling and several crashes were easily distinguished as the occupants continued their everyday arguments. The duo just stood in front of the entrance, listening to the chaos within and allowing the small girl to gather up the last bits of her courage.

"Well, let's get on with it." Reborn then turned the handles and pushed open the door.

All at once, the noise stopped and everyone froze, staring at the newcomers.

"Erm…Hi…" Tsuna raised a hand in an awkward wave.

"Hime-sama!" Gokudera shouted out excitedly, dropping Lambo and taking a step towards the girl, though halting in his tracks immediately when she flinched a little.

"Hime-sama?" Reborn mouthed with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Tsuna shrugged in response, her eyes straying toward the floor.

"Nufufufu. It's been a long time, Tsunayoshi." Mukuro smirked as per usual, but Tsuna could tell that he was concerned and careful not to do anything that would upset her.

"A-Ano…" Chrome stuttered. "It's good to see you again, boss…"

"Uh…yeah…you too…" The brunette didn't seem to be able to remember her proper speech functions anymore and it was clear that she was struggling.

"Ahaha! You got a new hairstyle!" Yamamoto said cheerfully, hoping to wash away a bit of his friend's stress. "You look really cute like that."

Tsuna blushed a little, but didn't look up or relax her stance. "I…er…th-thanks…"

Reborn sighed and shook her head. "I knew you were useless, but you're being so dame, dame, dame-Tsuna. What a cumbersome person. I can't believe these people were actually willing to put up with a dame, dame girl. Honestly dame-Tsuna, anything that made you more of an equal is fading from such a dame performance."

"Hey you bastard! How dare you-" Gokudera started off shouting, but was pulled back and hushed by the others who were staring intently at the brunette girl, who's bangs had cast a dark shadow over her eyes, her hands balled into fists and shaking.

"Dammit you bastard! Quite adding dame to my name and everything else used to describe me you conceited, egotistical, vain asshole of a hitman!" Tsuna shouted angrily and tried to kick the other.

Reborn blocked her move easily with a smirk. "Then stop being no-good. Even a child would have had a more developed speech augmentation just now compared to you."

"Shut up!" Tsuna blushed and aimed another set of maneuvers toward the irksome teen. "I haven't seen them in forever, what am I supposed to say! Hi there, I know I've avoided all of you and acted like some bat-shit crazy broad from hell, but I hope you can forgive me since it was all due to all that other crap that happened when we were kids!"

Reborn dodged and blocked, still smirking. "That sounds good."

"What type of an apology is that you asshole! They deserve _way_ better than that!" Tsuna raged, completely forgetting everyone else in the room in her desire to beat up the raven both verbally and physically. "They're the best family and friends that anyone could ever wish for and I had to ruin everything because I was too weak to disassociate the bullies from the rest of them! How would _you_ of all people be able to understand how difficult it is to tell them that you really cared the whole time, but when you thought you could ignore the stupid bullies' words, then you had to get your hands stained in the worst sort of way! How can I possibly allow myself to stain them with everything that I've done!

Hell! How am I even supposed to bring it up? You and the other Arcobaleno have known each other and everything that you could have possibly done since you were born! They weren't exactly there when it happened and then the freaking doctor had to go and threaten to put me on depression medication since he thought I went psycho and my parents fucking _agreed_ with him! I don't want people to hate me and call me a monster! So how do you suggest I was supposed to ever bring it up after that? ERG! You make me so mad sometimes!"

The brunette came to a stop, panting and glaring at Reborn, who seemed oddly and irritatingly pleased about something. "Congratulations Baka-Tsuna, you just did."

The sky guardian blinked in confusion. "Did? Did what?" Suddenly the reason she came to that room in the first place came rushing back to her and the girl's body froze up. Very slowly she looked around to see that, yes, the room was still occupied with all of her past and present friends, and no, they did not happen to have gone temporarily deaf and blind while she ranted and raved loudly, trying to beat up the world's number one hitman. Her eye twitched vigorously and she slapped a hand over her face and swore.

"Tsu-chan?" Giotto called out in shock. Never once in all the years that he knew the girl, did he ever see her try to fight someone or actually swear.

"If I can't see them, then maybe they can't see me," Tsuna muttered, refusing to remove her hand from over her eyes.

Reborn nearly snorted. "That's why you're so dame, Baka-Tsuna."

"That's it," the brunette growled, glancing up a little so that she could glare at the hitman. "I didn't want to resort to this, but you've left me with no other choice…"

The raven cocked an eyebrow at the girl. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Tsuna curled her hands into fists and took a deep breath. "Luuuuuuuuucee!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and sprinted out of the room.

"Merda!" Reborn followed suit, chasing after the girl to stop her before she reached the sky Arcobaleno and tattled.

…

"We were completely forgotten, weren't we?" Lampo mused allowed.

….

G heaved a sigh. "Come on. We better go after them."

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><p>The Arcobaleno present in the meeting room looked up curiously when they heard shouting heading toward them and burst through the doorway. They immediately recognized Tsuna, but were surprised to see her run over and cling to their sky, crying no less. Then again, when Reborn came into the room right after they were able to piece together what probably happened.<p>

"What's wrong dear?" Luce asked the poor thing.

"R-Reborn came with me to help me meet my old friends because he s-said he wanted to h-help, b-but he tricked me into some-something really m-mean and n-now ev-everyone's going to h-hate me-e-e-e!" The brunette told the older girl, big crocodile tears pouring down her cheeks, though the others didn't seem to be able to tell the difference. Tsuna cackled evilly in the back of her head. This would teach the hitman not to mess with her precious ones. She sent a smirk toward the hitman, knowing that he was the only one who could see it. The hitman glared.

"Reborn!" Luce snapped. "How could you mess with Tsuna-chan's chance to make up with her family? Have you no shame."

The raven turned away pointedly. "You shouldn't make assumptions without knowing the full story, Luce."

Tsuna whimpered and sniffed pitifully, rubbing her fists on the corner of her eyes like a little child would.

Luce placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at the other teen. "I don't need to know everything to know that you've upset Tsuna-chan greatly."

"Dame-Tsuna's conning you," Reborn growled, narrowing his eyes at the offending girl to let her know that if she didn't knock it off and tell Luce the truth, then she would be in for hell later.

A shiver of fear went through the small brunette, but she managed to keep her act going, only dropping it when the hitman was dragged out of the room by an angry sky Arcobaleno. She chuckled sinisterly when she was sure those two were out of earshot, causing the other Arcobaleno to sweat drop and Skull to cower in newfound fear of the girl.

"Kufufufu. Tsunayoshi-chan has become even more interesting while we were away it seems."

"Ack!" The brunette froze and slowly turned around to see that her old friends had followed her.

"And who are all of you, kora!" Colonello called out, only to get slapped on the back of his head by Lal.

"You idiot. They're the Student Councils' siblings who visited a short while ago." The bluenette griped.

Fon's eyes narrowed a little toward the group. "I hope you aren't trying to corner Tsuna-san against her will again."

Recognizing the dangerous undertone the storm Arcobaleno was using as well as the way several of her old friends bristled at the words, Tsuna stepped forward hastily. "Ah! No, no Fon-san! This time I was the one who requested for them to visit. I decided I didn't want my past fears to affect me anymore and I really wanted to see all of them again. Reborn just…"

"Ah, I see now." Fon eased into a gentle smile and patted the top of the girl's head, nearly chuckling when she flushed from embarrassment. "I'm glad you're getting better."

Gokudera was finally unable to take it anymore and stepped forward, glaring at the other storm. "How dare you touch Hime-sama so casually! Get your hands off her!"

"Gokudera-kun! It's okay!" Tsuna said quickly. "Fon-san is a friend and my senpai! He and the others have been helping me a lot!"

"If Hime-sama says so," the silver haired boy muttered reluctantly and back down.

The brunette sighed in relief, a hand over her heart.

Yamamoto laughed. "This is just like old times, huh!"

"This is an EXTREME reunion!" Ryohei shouted out, his sister giggling at his antics.

"Tch, you're just lucky that you even know that word," Gokudera growled.

"Kufufufu, it seems that our band of misfits has finally filled their gap. Too bad the majority is a bunch of fools," Mukuro said with a genuine smirked.

"Mukuro-sama," Chrome muttered in a slightly reprimanding tone, but she smiled shyly for the other girl.

The youngest child finally had enough of sitting around quietly and wiggled in his older brother's grasp, trying to escape. "Lambo-san wants candy now! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"

"Get your brat of a brother to shut up," G growled.

"Crowding with herbivores," Hibari grumbled, tempted to just ditch the group now that he was finally able to clear his conscious.

"Hn." Alaude seemed to agree with his younger counterpart's opinion.

"Nufufufu, what a rowdy bunch. You would think that all of you would have grown up even a little, but you seem to have maintained your childish attitude," Daemon sneered.

Knuckles chuckled. "But that youth is invigorating now and then. It's not like they should all grow up at once."

Asari just laughed.

Lampo sighed. "No one seems to remember how scary Tsuna was acting earlier and instead have turned back into the idiots you all were to begin with." The green haired teen cowered a second later when several glares and killing intent were directed his way.

Giotto heaved a heavy sigh. "Way to ruin the moment everyone. And here I thought you would all actually be serious this time."

"Only an idiot would think that," G teased his old friend.

"Stop reprimanding Primo, Pinky!" Gokudera shouted.

"Now, now," both Yamamoto and his brother said simultaneously.

"Yes! You should be EXTREMELY happy that my other little sister is together will all of us again!" Ryohei shouted.

"Un!" Kyoko added. "It's great that we can all be friends again!"

"You see!" Ryohei said loudly.

"Loud herbivore, be silent or I shall bite you to death," Hibari growled.

"Yeah! Stop trying to blow our ears out!" Gokudera yelled.

But everyone came to a stop when they heard the tinkling sound of laughter and turned to see Tsuna smiling and giggling at them. It was like a fresh breath of wind in a musty room and everyone couldn't seem to be able to get enough of it, causing them to all smile as well.

Tsuna smiled brightly at the group with a tilt of her head and her hands laced together loosely behind her back. "Thank you everyone."

She turned around and smiled at Reborn, who had re-entered the room with Luce in time to see the girl laugh, in thanks. To see such a bright and pure light return to the girl and have it directed toward him, after such a long period of living in his dark world, was absolutely breathtaking.

To think, that she was capable of outshining even the sun.

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><p><strong>Cute ending, no?<strong>

**HOLD IT! Before you review, I wish to tell you that last chapter was not the end of Byakuran! So please don't ask. He'll be back next chapter, but this was just a moment of happiness in between...That was a teaser wasn't it?...oop! ;p**

**~Reviews are lovely!**


	22. Chapter 22 Of Monsters and Men

**Okay, first off: Who said this story was finished? Did you people _not_ read the short end note at the bottom of chapter 21? There was, like, two sentences. And you couldn't read that?**

**Sigh. Well, to the others of you who actually care for the whole reason as to why I haven't updated in so long, I'm going to send you to my author's profile. Most don't care and it's irritating to get PM's from people who complain about my updating schedule without bothering to read. So if you want to know, go there. Just click my pen name at the top there.**

**Now, for all my lovely reviewers who kept me motivated to keep typing despite everything, I want to say a BIIIIGGG THANK YOU! So, InK-on-her-fingers, Once-upon-a-saturday, Yoshikuni Itoe, KinekoAkahi, Msdgirl, Ays283, TheKawaiiStar21, Zoealya, ArcobalenoCanvas, tarious123, VenomRogue, BrokenBlackCat, Lorem tenebrae, xXShadowMoonPendantXx, UnfadingPromise, RagingTempestaCx, The Mouse Maestro, aBoastingkerK, Inoko-chi, Noname-NN, xxtoushirou, Serendox, XxShadowfangsxX, ChaOtixReboRn, Oneaaa, Akainokami, Secret29, DarkenedRose24, and TherychanXD thank you for reviewing! After everything I've been through and my newly developed phobia, your reviews kept me going. Thank you so much!**

**One last thing! I forgot a section of the story that was supposed to goi in a little earlier, but I don't want to rearrange anything because that can mess with the flow, so it's now an extra at the end of this already extra long chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 22 Of Monsters and Men<p>

Staring.

That's what they have been doing for the last hour now. But Tsuna wasn't quite ready to back down. If they wanted to know more about her, then they were going to have to start talking first. They weren't little kids that needed to be coddled, they could find out for themselves.

And the others agreed completely. Now if they could just get the brunette to wipe that sparkling smile of happiness and 'this is a truly innocent smile, I am _definitely_ not trying to deter any of your questions at all (please note sarcasm)' off her face, they wouldn't feel so guilty about asking her about everything.

Reborn smirked. What a mischievous little thing. She and Luce definitely had the same ranges of smiles of a different meaning. Perhaps it was a sky guardian thing?

Giotto sweat dropped and sighed. "We're getting nowhere like this, so why don't I go first."

"Whatever do you mean, Gio-nii?" Tsuna asked innocently, placing a hand on her cheek and tilting her head in a very Nana-ish fashion.

'_She's definitely doing it on purpose!_' Many screamed in their heads.

The blond sighed again. "Tsuna…please, could you tell us about everything? Just start from the beginning. We'll listen through all the way to the end."

The brunette's smile finally faded and she took a deep breath. "…You promise you won't hate me?" She asked quietly, looking down and gripping the hem of her shirt in tight fists.

"Promise," several replied calmly, though not all together.

Tsuna took another deep shaky breath and began to tell them everything starting from the kidnap. Everything she had told Reborn, she relayed back to her childhood companions.

She was about to tell the group about the day Giotto interfered and what resulted, when suddenly there was a few sharp raps on the door. The group looked around in confusion, none had been expecting a visitor.

Mammon, who was closest to the door, went over to answer it. "What do you want?"

Everyone peered around to see a suited person standing on the other side.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. I must speak with her now." The man asked.

"Why?" The hooded boy asked.

"Bring Sawada Tsunayoshi out immediately." The man offered no other explanation.

Tsuna got up and walked over. "What do you want?"

The man held out a black envelope. "You have another-"

"Cease at once!" The brunette hissed, stopping the man from revealing anymore than he already had. She hastily stepped out of the room and closed the doors.

The others shared a glance before crowding around the door to try to listen in to the conversation.

"There are to be no arguments. The client has requested the White Rabbit specifically. There will be no retraction of the order," the suited man was heard saying.

"White…Rabbit..?" Reborn muttered slowly. Sure he was sure that the girl was possibly and assassin for the school, but the White Rabbit…

"Tell Nono that I decline the order. I'm not going on any more missions. I'm tired of being treated like a tool."

"There is no room for arguments," the man restated. "If you disobey this order, your contract will be revoked and you shall be restrained as previously stated."

"That's not fair!" Tsuna debated. "I've finished my contract of one year of service three days ago! You can't keep trying to keep me prisoner here! Nono promised that I would be free to do as I wished when the contract was finished!"

"Failure to meet all of the requirements has reinstated your contract for another year."

"What requirements did I fail to meet?" The brunette demanded.

"You have failed to cooperate with any of the assigned partners on your joint missions with the other academy."

"Who sent the complaint! I have done everything I could to cooperate with those incompetent fools!"

"You are not privilege to that information."

"But _I_ am." Luce opened the door and stepped forward. "Who sent in the complaint, or I shall have your orders revoked."

The man visibly suppressed a grimace. "Millefiore Academy's Student Council President and Leader of the Funeral Wreaths."

"You see!" Tsuna called out. "That man is insane and has been trying to get me to transfer to his academy forever! This is all just a ploy to get me stuck over there!"

"Unless you have proof to back up your accusations, then you should refrain from speaking ill of an allied school."

"I have to agree with Tsuna-chan on this one," Luce spoke up. "Byakuran isn't one to be trusted. Therefore, you should tell Nono that the Arcobaleno will not support him anymore if he tries to continue this nonsense. Tsuna-chan will now be under our protection."

The man frowned. "Then this order is to be passed to Reborn."

"What!" Tsuna exclaimed, outraged.

But Reborn jumped in before she could argue anymore. "Fine." He reached forward and took the letter, then pulled the other two back into the room and slammed the door in the man's face.

Guilt flooded the brunette as she realized what had just happened because of her selfish choice. "Reborn, I'm so-"

The raven haired boy flicked the girl in the forehead to stop her from continuing. "No apologies, or I'll get mad and have to train you extra hard."

"We did this for you sweetie," Luce said gently, patting the girl's head.

But Tsuna still felt bad. "What's the order?"

Reborn flicked the envelope open and unfolded the piece of paper inside. "To get rid of the Todd Famiglia and retrieve Fuuta de la Stella."

That gained Tsuna's attention. "Fuuta-kun? They have The Ranking Prince, Fuuta?"

"Apparently. Do you know him?" Reborn looked up at the girl.

"Yes, I do. He's like a little brother to me." Tsuna pursed her lips together and frowned a little. "Reborn, I'd like to accompany you."

"After all that arguing for your freedom and now you want to go?" The raven haired boy asked sarcastically.

Tsuna shook her head. "I don't want to be this school's assassin anymore, but I do want to help Fuuta-kun."

"An assassin? Wait! What's going on?" Giotto demanded, reminding the others who else was in hearing vicinity.

Tsuna bit her lip. She had been dreading telling the others about her contract. "I, um…" Tsuna grimaced and stared down at her hands. She could practically see the blood from all the lives she had taken, like it was still fresh. She hadn't even told Reborn about this. However, she promised to tell them everything so… "When-…When I was first transferred here, I- I didn't like it. It felt like I had been thrown away. So I…I tried running away multiple times."

"What does that have to do with being an assassin?" G asked calmly, despite the dark nature of his question.

"W-Well the Headmaster, he-…he made a deal with me…" Fear was seeping into her heart and tightening its iron fist, bringing out the stutters that she had long outgrown. "He knew about my- my abilities and offered a contract."

"And what was that?" Asari asked serenely.

"I just-…I just wanted to protect all of you so badly! So I…I…" She was so desperate to try to make them see why she had willingly killed others. But the shadows lurking within her was whispering to her that they were going to leave, that the look in their eyes was actually disgust. Self-preservation was one thing, but assassination was something else entirely. "I, I couldn't see any of you, b-but those people were still out there! And they were looking for Mukuro-nii and Chrome-chan, so I-I-. And what if they took the rest of you too? B-But then there were others going after you guys as well-! I-I thought th-that if it was j-just m-m-me then it would be okay, but I-!"

"Tsuna! Calm down!" Luce said firmly, placing both hands on the younger girl's shoulders. The youngest sky was falling back into a state of panic. If it continued then it would lead to her mind collapsing all over again.

A hand descended on top of the girl's head. "We're not going anywhere omnivore."

Tsuna's breathing evened out and she looked up at the younger cloud.

"Kufufufu, after all the trouble we went through to get into this school on more than one occasion, you think we would actually leave for such a petty thing? I'm sure my brother and I have done much worse."

"Lambo-san promises to stay if you give him candies," the small cow child said slyly.

"I would never leave Juudaime's side for anything!"

"Friends don't leave each other for anything, don't chya know Tsuna?" Yamamoto said with a grin.

"I _extremely_ don't get it!" Ryohei yelled. "Why would we _extremely _leave?"

Kyoko and Chrome each clasped one of the brunette's hands and smiled, albeit shyly on the female mist guardian's side.

"I think our younger siblings have spoken for all of us," Asari chuckled.

"More importantly, what's the conditions of this contract you keep talking about," Reborn partially demanded.

"I…uh…" She trusted them, but that didn't mean she wasn't scared anymore. Tsuna bit her lip.

"Go one, Tsuna-chan. You'll be alright, I promise," Luce said gently, giving one last squeeze before moving away again.

The brunette took a deep breath again. "After the first couple of weeks that we transferred, I had already tried to run away about twenty times. So Headmaster called me into his office and offered a deal. In exchange for staying in the school willingly…I would also be one of their assassins. At first I said no, because I really didn't want to taint myself any more than I already had, but he explained to me that my jobs would be mostly for protecting all of you…so I said yes. Every assassin and the remaining Estraneo left in the world, I was sent to take out. I also had to complete other jobs as well, or any enemies would figure out who I was actually protecting."

"But…you were still in elementary…why would the headmaster…" Knuckles trailed off.

"My flame class," Tsuna said quietly. "Most people think there are only four who have S class flames, but I know that there are six, three of whom reside in this school. Even though I was still in elementary, I am one of those three. I also had a great deal of combat ability thanks to Alaude-nii, Kyoya-nii, Daemon-nii, and Mukuro-nii."

"What are the conditions for your contract," Reborn demanded again.

Tsuna grimaced. "I was not allowed to tell anyone about my position, nor was I allowed to fight any member of the student body."

"But that means you couldn't fight back!" Gokudera exclaimed.

The youngest sky guardian nodded. "I am also not allowed to reveal my sky flames to anyone on campus. I may have an S rank and privileges, but using my flames is not really one of those."

"So when that girl attacked, that's why you couldn't…Oh god. I'm such an idiot." Giotto hunched over and pressed a hand over his eyes.

"Well, I'm glad that you've finally realized what the rest of us already knew, but let's not dwell on it for too long," Tsuna said with mock seriousness, patting the blonde's back. "Besides, as I said before, I really don't care anymore. I shudder to even consider thinking about what Reborn and the others did to those five, so I don't feel bothered by that event anymore."

"S-so what have you been doing after the contract was settled?" Chrome inquired.

Tsuna nodded and continued her quick self-bio, catching the others up to date completely. She didn't go into too much detail about her jobs though, only giving vague description of what each other them were.

"Thanks for telling us everything Tsuna!" Asari said happily.

"Yeah!" Yamamoto agreed brightly. "Now we can all transfer here as well without worrying about freaking you out!"

"Er!" Tsuna said in a negative buzzer like fashion while crossing her arms in an 'X' in front of her. "That's where I draw the line. No transferring. Visiting is okay, but no transferring."

Mukuro cocked an eyebrow. "Oya? And why not?"

"This school is dangerous. Not to mention that sneaky old man is definitely planning something I don't like," Tsuna added in an undertone that was meant more for herself than the others.

"And why would you think that?" Yamamoto asked curiously.

"Takeshi, what school would make a bunch of their students' assassins?" Tsuna deadpanned.

The boy laughed. "It sounds like a fin game to me, like an RPG."

The whole room deadpanned.

"You baseball-idiot! It's not a game!" Gokudera yelled, taking out a few sticks of his dynamite.

"Oh? You still play with those firecrackers, Hayato?" The raven asked innocently.

The silverette bristled. "They're not firecrackers you-!"

"Hayato! Please calm down," Tsuna called out exasperatedly, but she could help a light giggle. The brunette sighed once her friends were once again seated, and the silver bomber had stopped apologizing profusely. "Look, my intuition is telling me that it would be a bad idea for all of you to come here, especially right now with Byakuran running around. Headmaster would definitely want to give you something and that is a really bad idea. I don't want you guys to get involved and hurt because of me." The brunette tugged on the chain around her neck unconsciously.

"Are you implying that I am weak, omnivore?" Hibari growled, taking out his tonfas.

Tsuna raised an eyebrow. "Are _you_ implying that I'm stupid. I don't think I've ever been suicidal enough to think that you were weak Kyoya. I'd rather live a few more years, please."

The raven smirked, satisfied, and stowed his weapons away as he leaned back into the wall.

The sky guardian sighed again. "Look, at least think it over carefully and wait until Byakuran has left. Then you can come back and ask again. But please keep in mind that if you transfer here, you might also have an attempt to recruit you into this assassin business, and that's what I _really_ don't want. Okay?"

The others gave in begrudgingly and the group said their goodbyes and parted ways, the younger siblings all promising to come visit again as soon as the marshmallow freak left.

* * *

><p>Shit. <em>Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit<em>!

She ran as fast as she could, her heart racing and her lungs burning. She slid underneath the windowsill on the inside of her knees just in time to miss the blast of red flames that came through. The brunette popped back up and continued running, jumping over the stair railing and landing the last level below. She glanced around quickly, but the hallway became distorted.

She narrowed her eyes. "An illusion…" She closed her caramel orbs for a second and when she opened them again, they were a fiery orange. "Right."

She sprinted to the right where a wall looked like it was wavering without a second thought, bursting through the mist barrier and running down the hallway. She needed to get out of the confines of the building and away from civilians if she wished to have a chance of fighting back without giving herself away and breaking her contract in one go.

"Damn!" She hissed. The rest of the hall was barricaded with vines coated in a purple cloud flame. She was about to jump out window when a wash of blue rain flames stared to rush through. Then green lighting flames started to pulse through, slowly making their way toward the her.

The girl growled in frustration and backtracked toward the front entrance. But just before she could reach the door, there was a sharp sting to her neck and everything went black.

There was a sinister chuckle. Byakuran smiled and slung the girl over his shoulder. His eyes slid open in an ominous fashion as he headed toward the doors. "Welcome to Millefiore Academy, Tsunayoshi-kun."

* * *

><p><strong>Extra- The other half of the ring<strong>

Xanxus gazed at the blood red liquid swirling around his wine glass, allowing memories of the past several hours of the day pass through his head as they pleased. Never in his life had he ever felt so…at peace. Especially, after he found his so-called father's private journal and that hideous confession. But after his morning and that stupid little girl…He didn't feel so angry anymore.

* * *

><p><em><span>Earlier that morning<span>__…_

"_So we're doing it today?" Squalo confirmed in an unusually quiet serious tone._

_Xanxus narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Take out all the trash."_

_After that, all havoc ensued within the Vongola Academy offices, leading down into the basements. Finally, Xanxus and the headmaster were all alone. He yelled at the old man furiously, trying to make the traitorous geezer admit that he never had any intention of giving the next seat of Vongola over to him, and that he had never considered Xanxus his son._

_He was about to dive in for an attack, when suddenly there was a flash of brown and someone called out his name with a strange tone he could quite place, then there was someone burrowing into his chest._

"_Please don't attack Xanxus. I don't want to lose you too. Please."_

_The voice was so pained, like their soul was crying out and they were crying. It was so powerful, that Xanxus found himself pausing to look down at the person who had dared to stop him._

"_Please Xanxus," Tsuna sobbed desperately._

"_Move trash," the teen growled. He didn't want to hurt her, but if she continued to stand in his way, then he would be forced to._

"_Tsunayoshi. Move aside, it is too late," Nono called out solemnly. _

"_No!" The brunette's voice broke from the force. She finally looked up so that she could glare defiantly at the old man "I won't let you! Xanxus is my family too! He's one of my big brothers and I'm not going to let either of you take him away from me!"_

_He was right. The brat was crying._

"_Xanxus, please just listen to me for a minute," Tsuna pleaded. "Just listen to what I have to say. After that, if you still want to continue, then…then I'll…" She didn't seem to be able to complete that sentence._

_Xanxus glared for a moment before letting his flame go out. "One minute."_

_Tsuna nodded. "Xanxus, I know that you're mad at Headmaster for not telling you that you had no blood relation, but please look past that. I have no blood relation to you or Giotto and the others, but I still consider all of you my family. In fact, all of you are more of a family than my own blood relations. And…and at least you have a parent that really loves you and tries his best to understand you. My own blood parents didn't even take the time to ask me about…about everything before they decided that they would just send me away or keep me medicated. So please…I don't want to lose any more family members. I want to come bother my big brother and the rest of his rowdy friends. I want to be able to continue coming to the big brother who can understand my need for an equal when I feel overly violent. I need my big brother who can make me feel safer when that stupid marshmallow comes around. So please…please don't let this make you leave me, Xanxus-nii…please…"_

_Xanxus stared at the girl emotionlessly. To think that even with all his violent ways and lack of clear affection, the girl still found his presence important in her life._

_The brunette wiped her tears away fiercely. "If you're going to kill Grandpa. Then please kill me first."_

_The raven blinked at this. What was this girl saying now?_

"_After all…" Tsuna reached into her shirt and pulled up a chain with a very familiar ring half. "After all, I'm standing in your way too right? You want the other half of the ring and to be the next Vongola boss, right? I don't want it, but that doesn't mean that if I give it to you, that I'll stop standing in your way. If I'm left alive, then the others will protest and try to uproot you."_

_Xanxus stared, and stared, and stared._

_There it was. The other half of his goal. He finally knew who the other candidate for the throne was. All he needed to do was take the ring and kill the trash, and then he'd be done with it. He'd finally be on top He'd finally have everything that he ever wanted… What was everything again?_

_He wanted the title Decimo, yes. But, at the end of the day, had he expected to have the blood of the brat on his hands too? He partially wanted to protect her, right? That's why he gave her that Varia ring. So, could he really just kill her now that he knew the truth about her position in this world, no matter how forced? He should be angry that even Tsunayoshi had hidden that piece of information…so why wasn't he?_

_Slowly, Xanxus reached out. The brunette flinched and closed her eyes, expecting the final blow. However, she squeaked in surprise when a rough, but warm hand, placed itself on top of her head and ruffled her hair. She looked up in confusion and shock._

"_Move brat. I'm tired."_

_Tsuna blinked in surprise before slowly breaking out into a bright smile. "Un!" She grabbed the older teen's hand and dragged him out of the room, neither bothered to look back at the pleasantly stunned old man. They only paused for a second so that Tsuna could berate Squalo into getting up so that they could leave as a group._

* * *

><p>Xanxus smirk and raised the glass to his lips.<p>

It wasn't so bad he supposed. He could let the brat deal with all his paperwork instead and he could continue doing what he's always done. Besides, he didn't mind playing the silent support role. The brat needed a better big brother than that idiot blond and his crew anyways.

The raven glanced down at the Varia ring resting on his finger and found that he didn't miss the weight of the Vongola ring half one bit.

* * *

><p><strong>So, not as much of Byakuran as you were expecting, but he did come back and will be leading to the next chapter. I hope that part with Xanxus worked out properly.<strong>

**Thanks for reading!**

**Reviews are lovely~!**


	23. Chapter 23 Hitman's Honor

**You guys will never understand how difficult it was to type out this chapter. There are so many details and scenes that had to be molded together and I had to determine which ones fit in the best for one chapter without giving away too much or destroying another future chapter. Ugh. ****But it is finally complete, so I hope you enjoy.**

**To Kildosad, Esperanz, aBoastingjerK, Difficult1305, Guest 1, Kurorinny, TherychanXD, Once-upon-a-saturday, Yoshikuni Yen, Tsukuyomi-chan, XxShadowfangxX, BrokenBlackCat, Secret29, saphire644, Lorem tenebrae, InK-on-her-fingers, VenomRogue, xxtoushirou, UnfadingPromise, The Mouse Maestro, iNeedFanfiction, Iwataki, Kichou, Shankie, pokermaniac039, TheKawaiiStar21, ChocoMickey, Janisu, WhatExistsInFalling, Ayz283, RoxanneTheGreat, konan248, Guest 2, torpidxXR. E. NXxbreaker, Eurwen de Vrill, HeartXCrossbones, HiBirdSong, onepiecefannumber1, Guest 3, Guest 4, Mew Mew White Tiger, bunnys217, Rikkai and hyotei lover, and Swanfrost15; THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING. When I was tired and frustrated, you reviews helped remind me that people were looking forward to the next chapter and helped me push onward. So thank you!**

**Warning: There is a lot of skipping around this chapter.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 23 Hitman's Honor<p>

"_You're just dame-Tsuna!" _

_Laughter. _

"_You're so useless stupid Tsuna!"_

_They were laughing at her. _

"_Stop wasting everyone's time! You should just die and stop holding them back!"_

_High and annoying. The sound grated her ears._

"_You'll never be good at anything Dame-Tsuna, so just give up already!"_

_Why were they doing this? What did she do to deserve this?_

"_Useless people like you shouldn't even be around amazing popular people! Just die!"_

_Pain. _

"_Stop taking up their time! Leave our idols alone!"_

_Her body was in pain._

"_Die, die, die, DIE! Just die already Dame-Tsuna!"_

_Stop….STOP! _

"_You're so incompetent! Why do they even bother with you? It must be out of pity, because you're so disgraceful and stupid! They don't actually like you! Don't try to be all high and mighty when you're just a waste of space!"_

_Why were they attacking her?_

"_Everyone would be better off if you were dead!"_

Why?

"_So useless! So stupid! Just go away already! No one likes you Dame-Tsuna."_

_It wasn't fair. She had to fight back. She had to do something. The others would worry._

"_Nobody wants you."_

_The other would worry…_

* * *

><p>The door slammed open and Reborn stormed into the room.<p>

"Oi, Reborn!" G growled out. "We're in a meeting."

The Sun Arcobaleno ignored the other and stopped in front of the cloud guardian. "I need your surveillance videos."

Alaude narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"I can't sense her anywhere." His voice was uncharacteristically quiet, with the smallest bit of panic.

The beige haired teen caught on and stood quickly, heading out the door with the other. The rest of the student council followed closely behind, even if they didn't quite understand what was happening.

They met up with the Arcobaleno who were waiting outside. Both Mammon and Verde were seated on office chairs, being pushed by Fon and Colonello alike. The illusionist was sneezing repeatedly onto one sheet of paper at a time, then throwing them away with increasing frustration when only the image of an unrecognizable blue blob came out. It was a shock to the student council to see the illusionist so determined and not demanding a payment for every attempt to locate whatever it was they were looking for. It was just as much of a surprise to see Verde busy typing away on his laptop, a frown adorning his brow. Typing on his laptop was usual, but the depth of his frown indicated that there was something he was beyond his capability to figure out. Both were too busy concentrating on their task to notice their surroundings.

Alaude led them down to the basement of the student office building, where the entrance of the CEDEF unit was located. They entered the area easily, as Alaude was the current leader of the outside organization concerning the student portion, he would take on the full leadership of the division after he graduated from the school if he wished. The stern teen lead the group down several mazelike hallways until they came upon a room filled wither numerous screens. But the occupants were in a frenzy. Many of the monitors were smoking and useless. However, the damage was old.

The cloud guardian snarled. "Report."

"Alaude-sama!" One of the grunts stood up quickly. "Many of our surveillance cams were destroyed by the students from Millefiore Academy yesterday. We are still ascertaining the damage."

"What the hell is going on?" Giotto growled.

* * *

><p>"Let me out of here!" BAM!<p>

Tsuna beat against every inch of the white walls surrounding her.

White.

White.

White.

It was all she could see and it was driving her crazy. And for whatever reason, she couldn't seem to be able to summon her flames. There was also traces of lighting dying will flames running through the walls, increasing their durability. It explained why there wasn't even a scratch after hours of pounding away.

Tsuna glared at the walls, willing them to become a different shade or to at least reveal the location of the door.

A vent snapped open and there was hiss.

Tsuna backed away until her back was pressed firmly against the opposite wall, covering her mouth and nose with her hands. But it was useless and soon the brunette collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

><p>"<em>We'll protect you Tsu-chan!"<em>

_Lies. _

"_We _love_ Tsu-chan!"_

_Annoying. Hateful. Harsh._

"_You need us Tsu-chan!"_

_Taunting. Nasty, Animosity._

"_We'll never hurt you."_

_Fake. Fake, fake, fake, fake, _FAKE_!_

"_We love you Tsu-chan. We'll always be there for you. You can always count on us. Don't you love us too, Tsu-chan?...Tsu-chan…Tsu-chan…Tsu-chan…"_

Just shut up!

Go away! Go away! **Go away**!

_She didn't like them. Those two voices, they hurt. _

"_You're useless on your own, so let mama and papa protect you!"_

_Pain, pain, __**pain**__!_

_No more! Make it go away!_

"_You'll always need us Tsu-chan, because you can't do anything right. We'll always be here for our useless little Tsu-chan!"_

_No…Stop it. It's hurts. Please…someone help me…Reborn…Leon…help…_

"_Tsu~chan~…"_

**STOP IT**_!_

* * *

><p>Reborn shuddered and looked around. What in the world was that? For a second, it was as if his heart was doused in icy water. It made him feel sick to his stomach.<p>

He narrowed his eyes. They needed to work faster.

"We got something!"

Everyone immediately snapped around and converged to see what the CEDEF underling had found.

At first the screen was fuzzy and unfocused, but then someone tapped the camera and came into view. The occupants of the room grimaced at the sight of a smiling Byakuran. The boy waved then held up a sign.

'I'm leaving a few of your toys up so that you can watch the show.' The boy flipped the paper over and scribbled something on the other side. 'You'll have to go without audio though. But it should still be fun to watch. Please enjoy!'

Just then, another camera came online and the group watched the recording as Tsuna raced through the hallways, avoiding flame coated attacks and sending a few of her own.

"To be pushed into hyper dying will mode already," Asari murmured, his brows furrowed.

A few of the group gasped when the brunette was sent flying from a powerful punch. The girl managed to put out the storm flames with her own sky flames, but she was obviously in pain.

"She's holding back," Alaude growled.

"What do you mean?" Skull inquired.

Reborn's eyes narrowed dangerously. "She can't fight back at full strength because of her contract. She may not work for the school anymore, but that doesn't mean all the limitations have been lifted."

Tsuna kept running, sliding under a window to avoid a blast of storm flames, but immediately returning to her feet the moment she passed under. She ran without taking break, even when dodging using awkward angles. The hallway became distorted, even on camera which indicated a powerful illusion if they could see as well on their end, causing the girl to halt. The group watched in anticipation as the brunette closed her eyes. A moment later, they snapped open and she broke out of the illusion. However, her path was cut off by a wall of purple flame covered vines and the girl backtracked. Yet before she could reach the last chance for her escape, Byakuran appeared from behind and brought a hand down to the back of her neck.

Everyone could clearly see the flash of fear on Tsuna's face before she passed out into the white haired teen's arms. Byakuran hoisted the girl over his shoulder before looking up at the camera one last time to wave with a wide, sinister smile. As the boy walked out of the door, the visual faded into darkness.

"Dammit!" G shouted, slamming his fists down onto the countertop, showing a rare flare of true anger.

Knuckles clapped a hand over his friend's shoulder. "We'll get her back."

"We'll leave right now, kora!" Colonello agreed full-heartedly.

"We can't," Luce said softly, but firmly.

"And why the hell not?" Daemon growled.

"The Vendice will arrest all of us before we could even get there," Giotto grunted. "Everyone here knows that."

Reborn didn't look up, his expression shadowed by his fedora.

"But she's a student here!" G argued. "We should have full rights to send out the Arcobaleno to bring her back."

"Not if it means breaking into another academy to do it. That was the agreement between headmasters and if we break that, then we break the law they wrote," Giotto explained through gritted teeth.

"But they broke into this school first!" Skull pointed out. "So why weren't _they_ arrested?"

"They filled out all the proper paperwork and entered the school with full permission," Alaude hissed.

"At this point, the accusation would be that Tsuna ran away," Lal added. "If anyone else catches wind of this, then it is Tsuna who will be punished."

"So what do you suggest we do, just sit around and wait for something to happen, kora!" Colonello demanded.

"We need a plan," Knuckles stated calmly.

"A plan could take weeks to solidify into something usable," Lampo pointed out. "Even if we filled out the proper paperwork to allow us all to visit would take at least a week."

"But if that's what must be done, then we should proceed as calmly as possible." Fon took a deep breath to calm his anger. He couldn't allow himself to be clouded with emotions during such a critical time. "I believe that Tsuna would become rather upset if she found that we acted recklessly. We were named the strongest of our generation, so let's prove it."

* * *

><p>"Tsunayoshi-san, please eat up. You need to maintain your strength," the woman in charge of looking after the brunette insisted.<p>

Tsuna looked up blearily from her huddled position of hugging her knees close. She sighed when she spotted a tray piled with food. "Please don't bother. I have no desire to be drugged any further."

"Byakuran-sama has guaranteed that your meal has not been tampered with by any enemies," the blond girl ensured.

Tsuna laughed bitterly. "It is not any of _your_ enemies that I fret about, it is what _Byakuran_ put in there that I worry of."

"What could you possibly mean?" The girl inquired in complete confusion.

The brunette laughed again, though it was even more hollow than before. "You truly believe that Byakuran is a good person, don't you?" Tsuna shook her head, not needing a reply, and buried her face back into her arms and out of sight. "This is why I hate the mafia. They twist around words and use perfectly good people, tricking them into doing something horrible."

The blond blinked and her eyebrows creased in concern and deeper confusion. "Tsunayoshi-san…I really would like to be friends with you. I think you're a good person, but I also think you're wrong about Byakuran-sama. He brought you to our school so that he could protect you from the Vongola, who were trying to use you. I know you may be confused, but the Vongola brainwashed you into believing they were helping you."

Tsuna laughed at that, her tone full of animosity and resentment. "I know perfectly well that the Vongola were just using me. I allowed myself so that I may protect my friends from a similar past as my own. Don't try to feed me your fairytales and lies. I have no desire to stain my hands with your blood, seeing as you're one of the few here with a pure heart."

The brunette buried her head once more and tightened her grip, sealing herself off again and signaling that she wouldn't be answering anymore.

"I'll just leave this here for you just in case you want to eat later," the blond muttered softly, placing the tray on the coffee table.

She closed the door gently and made her way back to her dorm in thought. It wasn't like she didn't notice the dark demeanor of this school, or the dirty looks the black and white spell gave each other. But Byakuran had helped her family, so he had to be a good person…right?

* * *

><p>Reborn watched and listened, not daring to add anything for fear that his emotions would become clear to the others in the room.<p>

Never had he felt such raw anger before. Had he been anyone else, he would have been overcome by the emotion, like a sun gone super nova. But he wasn't just anyone else. He was the world's greatest hitman, so there was no way that he would allow himself to make a foolish and reckless mistake.

The raven glared at the taunting smile of the albino enemy, the intensity only a hair's breathe away from actually melting the screen.

'_I'll bring you back_,' Reborn promised within the confines of his mind. '_On my honor, I swear it._'

* * *

><p><strong>Anyone who can correctly guess who the girl looking after Tsuna is, will receive the reward of their choosing (be it a story or spoiler of this or any other story I have out). Good luck!<strong>

**Reviews are lovely~!**


	24. Chapter 24 Blinding Darkness

**Warning: Lots of jumping around. Lots of views to cover.**

**To the people who guessed the mystery girl last chapter: please read note at the bottom!**

**_THANK YOU_ TO: UnfadingPromise, RoxanneTheGreat, xXxMentalPancakesxXx, Swanfrost15, DarkenedRose24, LiterallyMetaphoric, Iwataki, Dreamless-Sleep777, ScornedxRose, TheKawaiiStar21, Kildosad, MacadamiaMistress, Unknown, Guest1, BrokenBlackCat, KatoKimeka-chan, Guest2, Guest3, Reborn ninja, Connection of Complication, Akainokami, animebaka14, XFranLover666X94, Rikkai and hyotei lover, Lady Syndra, Vikky Plushie, Guest4, HiBirdSong, scratchart123, lolo MN, Ayz283, Secret29, Kaidou Shouta, Guest5, Hoshi Yuhi, Anon, Miyuki Lal-Ame, Hamano Chiaki, wolfsrainrules, TsuKiLo, pinkbananas, Niwaki, Nekozawa Tomoe, and Tachisuna for reviewing! It definitely helps more than you would ever realize, so thank you!**

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 24 Blinding Darkness<p>

"Tsunayoshi-san, we have to get you out of here!"

"No. That won't work. You use the way out and make it back to Vongola Academy. You'll be able to provide them with more help than I will at the moment."

Calm. Resolved. But also very scared.

She knew what was coming. They both did. It was just a matter of time.

The other shook her head, short hair fraying out into more of a frazzled mess, clasping her hands together over her fluttering stomach. There was so much at stake. "B-But, if you stay..."

"I know." Her voice cracked and she tried clearing her throat to maintain some semblance of clam.

She knew. Of course she knew. But it had to be done. Even if it meant…

"Do you have anyone you can take with you?" The brunette asked.

The other thought for a bit before nodding hesitantly. "I think there's someone who'd be willing to come and help. He's good with building things and should be of great help if we can swing it."

"That's good. We'll need everyone we can get. Now go." She gave a figurative push to her friend away from her prison. "I trust everyone, so I'll be okay."

A look of grief passed her mousy features, but gave way to determination. "Good luck, Tsunayoshi-san."

She smiled. "It's Tsuna and good luck to you…"

And then she was alone again, giving her a chance to allow her smile to fade. She crept away from the general location of the vent or door or whatever it was they had been speaking through, moving as far away from any openings in the hope that any outside contact would become minimum.

Escape was already out. She had already tried…several times. There was no way Byakuran was going to make it easy. She needed help.

The brunette squeezed her eyes shut and clasped her hands together, muttering prayers and trying to convince herself that everything would be alright. "Leon…Reborn…Please…Please help me…Please…"

It was expected, but there was no answer. She was alone.

All…Alone…

* * *

><p>"I don't like this plan," Lampo muttered.<p>

"But it's the best one we've got," G sighed. "The other ones either take too long to initiate or risk too many people getting left behind."

"Still…" The green haired boy shook his head. "To call on a bunch of kids to go in before us…"

"What we have to remember Lampo, is that they aren't really kids any more than we were at that age." Despite his inspiring words and calm tone, Asari's expression spoke in volumes. He was just as against sending his brother into enemy territory, but was also trying to believe in his sibling's strength at the same time.

But they weren't the only ones against this plan. Every single member of the student council wanted their siblings to have no part in any plan. However, they were running short on time and when their younger counterparts heard, they became quite adamant about either being added to the plans or they would go in themselves, which would only cause even more problems.

"Chrome, I really think you should stay behind," Daemon repeated, once more on a video chat line.

The girl shook her head. "I can help, brother. I can hide the younger cloud man with my illusions."

"I know you can, but what about your organs? I won't be there if something happens to Mukuro," the oldest pineapple sibling argued.

"Kufufu, are you saying you don't trust my strength?" Mukuro popped into the screen next to his adopted sister.

"I'm saying that you're going to find supporting Chrome to be even more difficult if and when you run into confrontation." Daemon was only just barely containing his increasing panic.

"You'll be following us in," Chrome jumped back in timidly. "I know Daemon-nii will be looking after all of us."

Daemon sighed and placed a tired hand over his eyes. "Please take care of yourselves. If at any point, you think you can't handle your opponent, I want you to get out of there. You hear me?"

The girl smiled softly. "Yes."

"Make sure you tell everyone else the same thing," G told the duo.

The two nodded and the screen went blank once more.

"I hope this plan works," Lampo murmured.

"It has to," Giotto said softly. "It has to…"

* * *

><p>It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real.<p>

Tsuna rocked back and forth, clutching her head. She repeated her mantra over and over again, trying to get herself to completely believe that the events that kept taking place wasn't real, just an illusion sent to mess with her mind. She had maintained a strong front for the first few times, but now the images were seeping into her already horrible nightmares and she was starting to doubt.

It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real.

Even if they were just illusions, that didn't mean that it _couldn't_ happen. Byakuran was strong. If the others came to get her, then surely the illusions she was shown regularly would come to life.

No. No!

She had to believe in them.

It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real.

But what if…

If nothing! She had faith. They were strong too.

But _what if_? _What if_. _What if_. _**What if**_!

"Tsuna, we're here to save you!" A familiar voice and a familiar face.

SLASH!

The body fell to the ground in pieces, sliced apart and blood pooling around the disfigured being. When the girl didn't show any reaction, the body faded away.

An illusion. Just another illusion.

It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It _wasn't_ real!

* * *

><p>"How much longer is this going to take, kora!"<p>

He was impatient. They _all_ were impatient.

"We have everything ready, now we're waiting for the forms to go through," Fon informed the group. "We have to remain calm or we'll jeopardize the plan."

Luce nodded. "The student council will go in first, under the pretense of a meeting. Their siblings will sneak inside and start a ruckus. At the same time, the Varia will assault the outside. This will draw all the attention to them and we should be able to sneak inside discretely. We _must not_ be noticed."

"Go in, get Tsuna, get out." Colonello smirked. "Shouldn't be a problem, kora."

Lal nodded curtly in agreement and turned toward the groups' shrouded member. "Will you be going with the Varia are with us?"

"With you," Mammon informed the group. "Something is interfering with my reading and I think I'll find out just what it is if I stick with the rest of you."

Lal nodded once more and turned to face a different member. "And what of you?"

Verde pushed up his glasses, causing them the flash from the glare of the light. "I'll accompany you up until we reach the internal computer system of the school. I'll be able to access their information and surveillance from there and provide better coverage."

"Colonello shall stay with you at that point," Luce decided. "Viper and Fon will remain together since I'm sure at some point Viper will go off in the direction the interference is coming from. And since you're not very good with close combat, you'll need someone there to help. I shall stick with Lal for the same reasons. That leaves you on your own, I suppose you're pleased with that?"

Reborn smirked. "Very."

* * *

><p>"Yo. Dame-Tsuna. Get up, we're leaving. Don't waste all my effort saving you."<p>

"Pfft." Tsuna broke out into a fit of laughter even as the image of the raven haired hitman was gunned down. The illusion faded quickly this time. "That was the worst imitation of Reborn I've ever seen. Thanks for that. I needed a good laugh."

The girl wiped an eye, crying a little from laughing so hard, before resting her forehead against her arms once more.

Yes. That was just what she needed.

Now she was confident. Now she was sure.

Reborn was better, stronger, and more confident than that.

It was an illusion, no doubt about that.

She could rest a little easier for now.

Because Reborn was the strongest.

Reborn was the best.

And he would definitely be able to get her out.

* * *

><p>"Oi, boss," Squalo called out in an unusually quite tone. "Are you alright with this plan?"<p>

"Ushishishi, the prince doesn't like leaving the other peasants to pick up his pet."

"Puffball-san would become even more traumatized if she saw you're ugly mug first, you fake-prince."

"Mou~ My poor Tsu-kun! Don't worry my honey, Lussi-nee is coming!"

"VROOII! Would all of you just shut up!" The white haired teen yelled, reaching his maximum length of calmness he was able to muster.

Crash!

"Shut up, scum."

The group instantly quieted. If Xanxus was reverting back to scum, that meant he was _really_ pissed off.

"We'll do the minimum requirement for Vongola, from there we'll do whatever the hell we want. Got it?" Scarlet eyes flashed dangerously, daring someone to object.

Plan or no plan, the Varia took care of their own.

* * *

><p>The door slid open and the girl looked up with a glare. She could tell, even before the door opened, who was visiting her this time.<p>

"Good evening Tsunayoshi-kun! And how are you today?" Byakuran asked cheerily.

Glaring. Seething. If only her hateful gaze could burn the flesh of his face.

"Hmm, still no good huh?" The albino put on a mock concerned contemplative expression. "But I've given you everything anyone could ever ask for? I've taken you away from the people trying to use you and given you the perfect safe haven. What more could you possibly want."

"My freedom," Tsuna snapped at the boy. "Why do you do this to me? For what reason must you steal what little I have managed to salvage?"

His grin widened, enhancing his foxlike features. "Don't you know Tsunayoshi-kun? We're bound together by fate. You, me, and the Arcobaleno princess. Every world we've ever existed, we've existed together and clashed."

"What the hell are you spewing? Worlds? Princess?" Tsuna said incredulously. "You're more insane than I originally thought, if at all possible."

Byakuran tilted his head to the side. "Is that so? I'm sorry you think that way. But, you know Tsunayoshi-kun, we would work well together. The three skies of the tri-ne-sette should stick together, no?"

"I don't want any part of that," Tsuna growled, casting her gaze to the ground and away from the other teen. Taking one of the sets would bind her to yet another prison. An eternity tied to the mafia and to supporting the world. She didn't need it. She didn't want it.

Byakuran's widening smile should have warned her, had the brunette been looking at the boy. Nor did she see the strange haze that seemed to be setting within the room. "Then why don't you let me help you with that? I only need a little bit of your help and then you'll never have to worry about the Vongola, tri-ne-sette, or anything else that pains you ever again."

Tsuna placed a hand to her temple, her thoughts felt like they were slipping through oil. "What?"

"I can make everything go away," Byakuran continued, moving closer to the girl slowly.

"Take…everything…away…?" The girl shook her head a little, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to concentrate. "I…what?"

"I'll make it so that you don't have to remember any of the pain. I'll make a future where we can all be happy."

"Pain?" Her eyes were gradually growing duller. "No more pain?"

"That's right. All you have to do is help me just a tiny bit."

"Help? I-…No!" Tsuna stood up hastily and backed away blindly into the farthest corner. "No! I- You're just trying to trick me!"

She clutched her head, trying to clear her thoughts and regain control.

"Come now, Tsu-kun. I won't hurt you."

Clack.

The rushing sound of blood beat through her head. The only clear though she could manage was that he was coming closer and there was nowhere else she could run and hide.

Clack.

"I just want to help."

Clack.

"I'll never hurt Tsu-kun like all the others."

Clack.

"We'll make sure no one else hurts."

Clack.

"Everyone can be safe and happy." Byakuran smiled down at the girl he towered over, reaching out slowly and placing a hand on her head. "Trust me."

_Clack_.

The suffocating embrace of darkness couldn't be any more frightening than when its dark tendrils slipped over Tsuna's very soul and pulled her away.

* * *

><p><strong>Alrighty then! To everyone who guessed Elena last chapter, you were correct! However, there were more than I was expecting to actually guess, so I need to narrow it down. To everyone who reviewed the correct answer, try to guess who Tsuna was talking to at the beginning of the chapter. From there I'll announce the winners on my profile and send a PM as a reply to your review to let you know if you've won and then you can send me your request!<strong>

**Others can guess as well and I'll see if there isn't a little something I could give as a prize. ;)**

**Good luck everyone and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	25. Chapter 25 Time is Ticking Away

**Thank you to: Kildosad, RoxanneTheGreat, NeroAutore, LiterallyMetaphoric, BrokenBlackCat, Rikkai and hyotei lover, Azrayah, Iwataki, animebaka14, Neukiri, Swanfrost15, Ayz283, Momoxtsuna123, Zylia16, and Kaidou Shouta for reviewing! **

**Congratulations to all the people who guessed correctly! It was indeed Shoichi!**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 25 Time is Ticking Away<p>

"Is everything ready?" Giotto asked the group before him. "I don't want any mess ups tomorrow."

He was taking on the role of the leader. He was calm. He was confident. He was in charge.

"As ready as we'll ever be," G informed his friend. The crimson haired boy was portraying the calm before the storm, ready to let loose and release his unending fury on those deserving.

"W-wait!"

The group swiveled around to see a stranger standing by the door. The groups' eyes narrowed, but it was their leader who spoke up.

"Who are you?" Giotto studied the nervous red-head as she clutched her stomach and took a step back in fear. But there was also determination in her eyes.

"M-my name is Irie Shoichi. Tsuna-san sent me here to help."

Before anyone else could speak, Alaude snapped his head around and stood up, glaring viciously. "You are the head of the technician department, as well as one of the 13 student council leaders at Millefiore Academy."

In a blink of the eye, the entire group turned hostile.

"Y-Yes I am, but that was because Tsuna-san asked me to!" The red headed girl interjected before anyone else could start talking.

"Tsuna would never send someone into someplace as dangerous as that!" The blond president rebuked immediately, angrily.

"Tsuna was too kind hearted to be able to place a friend in that position, so there's no use lying," Lampo added. "Byakuran is crazy. If you were actually a friend, then Tsuna would have brought you here or something."

"Mmm! That's just how dangerous this situation is!" Shoichi shouted. "Tsuna-san knew this day was coming, so she did everything she could to try to help!"

"You liar!" Gokudera yelled. "If Tsuna-sama knew, then she would have been able to avoid this!"

Shoichi frowned. "Don't you think she tried that!"

"You should just show them the video, Shoichi," a new, and extremely laid back, voice cut in.

Once again, the group looked around, this time spotting a blond in a green jumpsuit and a laptop tucked under his arm strolling in. The boy took out a strange wrench looking lollipop and stuck it in his mouth. "I'm Spanner. But you should listen to what Shoichi has to show you."

"Tsuna said all of you would be too hard headed to listen, so she made this video some time ago while we were setting everything up," Shoichi explained calmly.

"Shoichi hadn't become a member of the student council yet, had you?" the laid back blond asked his red headed companion.

The girl shook her head and took the offered laptop, pulling it open and typing away. When she turned the device around, everyone saw their beloved little sister on the screen.

"Is it on?" Tsuna asked someone in the background. "Good. We have to make this quick. I only have an hour to make it back to the door before it closes. Look, Giotto, everyone…If you're watching this, then my other plans didn't work out. I can't explain it to you and I don't have time to try, but Byakuran and I are linked. Again, I don't know why, but I know that he's going to try and take it. The three of us have had a connection that transcends time and space, and nothing anyone tries to do will stop it from happening. At this point, I'm not strong enough to stop him, and neither are the rest of you. I know you're going to want to come after me, and I know this video or anything else I could possibly say won't stop your attempt. So I'm doing the next best thing. Shoichi is the best strategist I have ever met. And Shoichi, I am so, _so_ sorry for doing this to you. I wish there was another way, I wish it more than anything. But the information you could gather as a student under Byakuran would be invaluable. Please don't do anything reckless. We haven't known each other long, but you're my friend and I don't want to lose anyone else. Reborn…This next part is for you…"

The hitman perked and moved over so that he could see the screen directly.

"When next we meet…I need you to shoot me."

Immediately the room was in uproar, but Reborn only had room for the brunette's face.

"I know-…I know that everyone won't believe me. But…If Byakuran has me, then I'm sure he's already broken what's left. I can't-…I just can't bear the thought that everyone will end up hurt or worse because of me. Shoichi and I have been working on a special bullet, I may have even asked Verde for help at one point or another. But I need you to take that bullet and aim to kill. This is a crucial part of the plan and I can't trust anyone else to do it but you. There's only going to be one window of opportunity and if you don't do it, then everything that we've done will be for nothing. I'm _trusting_ you to do this."

"Tsunayoshi-san, someone's coming!" A person off to the side hissed.

The brunette nodded curtly and turned back to the camera one last time. "The rest of you probably came up with some idiotic plan. Listen to Shoichi and let her plan this out, she knows this place better than anyone. You have to make sure to bring everything. I have to go. Beware of the non tri-ne-sette radiation! Good-bye!"

The feed cut, leaving the slightly blurred image of Tsuna reaching for something.

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" Gokudera growled. "Juudaime would never ask something like that!"

"We should look at this at a logical standpoint," Verde interjected, pushing the bridge of his glass up.

"Are you trying to say that _Juudaime_ would actually tell us to kill her?" The silver demanded. "This is obviously someone's attempt to fool us!"

"We're not saying that Tsuna would say something like that without reason," Fon jumped in. "We're just saying that we need to analyze the situation."

"I have to agree with Gokudera on this one, senpai," Yamamoto added to the fray. "The Tsuna we know would never ask her friends something like this because she knows it would hurt us."

"From what I hear, you didn't know everything about Tsuna-san until just recently," Spanner drawled. "How do you she didn't tell you everything."

"Of course she told us everything! She said so!" Gokudera hissed, refusing to let the hurt he felt from that statement show.

"She couldn't have told you about this or all of you wouldn't have let it happen!" Shoichi argue.

"You didn't see how scared she was!" Daemon rebuked. "We could all see it, clear as day. When Byakuran kidnapped her on that video."

"Of course she was scared! Even with everything she was planning, there's no way that she wouldn't still be scared of someone so much stronger!" Shoichi shot back.

"I EXTREMELY don't understand!"

"Of course you wouldn't you stupid idiot!" Gokudera yelled.

Verde scoffed. "Like any of you simpletons would understand anything."

"What was that!"

Words on top of words. The arguments increased into nonsensical shouts. A mob of anger, fear, and violence. Everyone was yelling at someone.

The group was dissolving.

_Bang_!

Heads swiveled around, expecting to see Reborn. But to their surprise it was Luce who stood with a smoking gun.

"Everyone needs to calm down," the sky Arcobaleno said soothingly. "Think about Tsuna would say if she saw all of you like this. I'm sure she would be very disappointed."

"Have you seen something?" Lal inquired.

The young woman nodded solemnly. "I have seen shadows of this event for some time now, but nothing ever made sense until now. Still, I cannot yet interpret further visions of the future. "

"And what else are you holding back exactly," Giotto growled.

Luce's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Keep your head and your wits about you, Giotto-kun. We-"

To everyone's shock, each member of the Arcobaleno collapsed abruptly.

"W-What's going on, kora!" Colonello managed.

"Mugya! I can't move!" Mammon struggled to sit up, but found himself immobile.

Even Reborn was just barely holding himself against the wall.

"Oh no!" Shoichi gasped. "Quick, Spanner! We have to set up the filter!"

The two got to work, pulling out strange devices and typing away on the laptop once more. The red head tossed a bunch of the devices to the student council.

"Attach those to the windows, quickly!" She urged the group while Spanner went behind her and started setting up the same devices on the doorframe.

"What?" G mumbled, unsure what to do.

"If you don't hurry, then they'll die!" Shoichi cried.

Giotto didn't trust the duo, but he trusted his intuition. He grabbed one of the devices and ordered the rest to help. It was only the panic of the moment, which caused the group to work together. Whatever was out there must be more dangerous than they could imagine, for what else could bring the strongest eight in the world to their knees?

* * *

><p>Darkness.<p>

Darkness consumed and revolved around her.

It was nothing and it was everything. Binding, freeing. Light and heavy.

But it was only lonely.

Where was she?

…

What…was she?

She was a person?

…

Perhaps a thought?

…

What time was it?

Then again, what was time?

…

There was something she was supposed to be doing. But what was she do? And what was this something?

Importance? No importance?

How curious, how uncurious she could be.

"Tsuna-san."

Was she a she? Or was it he? An it perhaps? Or a was?

"Tsuna-san!"

Was it here? Or there? Or everywhere?

Day, night…Dark, light…Yin, yang…Water, fire…Sky, earth…And there were seven to twenty one, plus another seven on the side. It was a rainbow over the horizon.

"_Tsuna-san!_"

Oh?

What was that?

Was it a who or a what?

"A who, Tsuna-san. A person. A girl. A friend."

A friend?

What was a friend?

Could she eat it? Play with it?

Would it stay with her when she needed it and take away the scary darkness?

"Yes and no. I will stay with you, but our other friends will get us out."

Was that so? Or is that so?

So curious, yet uncurious.

"You need to get a hold of yourself, Tsuna-san. Or they won't be able to find you."

Find you? Find who?

Perhaps the color blue?

No, yellow was better.

Find yellow. Yellow was warm and reminded her of something nice.

"Tsuna-san, concentrate on that warm feeling. Who does it make you think of?"

Who? Or a when?

There are lots of when's.

"There's people in those moments. Think about those people. There's also a special someone. Think about him too."

Hm.

No people. But there were colors. Lots of colors.

There was a smarty-pants green, a loud blue, a calming-scary orange, an annoying-crybaby purple, a greedy indigo, a sergeant blue-indigo, a calming-windy red, a crybaby-bratty seaweed green, a crybaby-bratty cow green, a happy-go-lucky-flutey blue, a loud-bright yellow, a calm-bright yellow, a happy-go-lucky-baseball blue, a big brother orange, a flarry-stormy red, a calm-thoughtful-sometimes-loud red, a big creepy indigo, a little creepy indigo, a nice-shy indigo, a scary big-bird purple, a scary-not-scary little-less-of-a-big-bird purple, an angry red-ish orange, a stalker green, a ushishishi bloody red, a pedo-creepy yellow, a loud-sharky blue, and a faint set of earthy red-browns tinted red.

"You're missing one."

One?

Why one?

It's two.

Yes two.

A nice, warm, wonderful, powerful, reliable, lion yellow. That's a nice color. She likes this color. It's a good color.

But then there was a darker, more sinister yellow. It was annoying, and dangerous, and scary, yet sometimes nice. But it was mean, and it pulled pranks, and it was a Spartan tutor, and it annoyed her.

And he pissed her off, even if he was nice sometimes. And he was always getting into her business, and breaking into her dorm.

"And _dammit_ Reborn! Get out of my head!"

"There you go."

"Ara, who's there? And where am I?"

"I'm a friend. You've been a little out of it since you've been stuck here for so long."

"That doesn't answer where we are. Although, you do seem faintly familiar. Have we met?"

"We have." A giggle. "Can you guess? If you can, I'll tell you everything."

She thought. And then thought some more. "It's very difficult to think here."

"So don't search for those memories. Let your thoughts come to you."

"I don't like games much."

"But you have to think like a game, because there can only be one winner. The bouncing marshmallow has the lead, so it's time for you to catch up."

"This sort of talk messes my head up."

"But again, it's a game. Think like your enemy to win."

"An enemy, a friend, and a delusional no-thought. What a fine threesome we make."

"But skies should stick together, no?"

"Even when we fade to night."

"Is that resolve or have you given up."

"Depends on the frame of mind."

"And why is that?"

"Because we give up on tomorrow to fight for today."

"And _why_ is that?"

"Because tomorrow never actually comes."

"I see. Then what will you do?"

"Well if dancing marshmallow-"

"Bouncing marshmallow."

"Dancing, bouncing, whatever it is! If the marshmallow moves to the side, then we should move up! And then when time and space aligns…"

"The rainbow shall appear."

"Correct! Because through it all, the skies will stand together, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then we have already made our move."

"I see that now. You are very different than what I remember, Tsuna-san."

"As are you, Uni."

A smile. "I will be here to keep you mind in order."

"That's good, because I need to keep my wits in order. Space thinks he has the lead, but the Rainbow is just waiting in the wings and the Clams have yet to run asunder."

"The In-Between is ready as well."

"And Time has started ticking away."

* * *

><p><strong>There were a lot of hints for the upcoming battle in Tsuna's and Uni's conversation. Did you see them? ;)<strong>

**WINNERS OF GUESSING CONTEST (Also on profile.)**

Part One; Elena:

UnfadingPromise, xXxMentalPancakesxXx, Iwataki, TheKawaiiStar21, Kildosad, Connection of Complication, Akainokami (? I'm going to assume you knew), Silent Orange Summers, PurpleSong, lolo MN, Secret29, Kaidou Shouta, Hoshi Yuhi, and TsuKiLo!

Part Two; Shoichi:

Kildosad, RoxanneTheGreat, NeroAutore, Neukiri, Swanfrost15, Momoxtsuna123, and Zylia16!

Grand Prize of your choosing goes to:

Kildosad!

Everyone else who guessed correctly (for either one), you can ask for either a spoiler or something else that's small!

**Thank you very much everyone! I hope you had as much fun as I did, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Reviews equal food for thought~!**


	26. Chapter 26 Breaking Down Walls

**I'm back! While I'm on break, I'll be putting out chapters or at least working on them so that I have stuff to put out once my break is over.**

**Thank you for being patient with me when I needed to take a break from this site!**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 26 Breaking Down Walls<p>

"Tsuna-san, wake up."

"Urg…Ten more minutes. You know what, how about half an hour. Or even better, just go away." The brunette rolled over to face away from the speaker.

"Tsuna-san, we need to get going," the other pressured.

Tsuna groaned and blinked sleepily, looking around absentmindedly. She sat up with a start when she failed to recognize her surroundings and with further observation, she realized that she was transparent.

"Cool! I'm a ghost now and can haunt and pull pranks on everyone!" The girl shouted out in excitement, getting up and running…straight into a wall.

Uni blinked in shock, leaning over her companion's fallen form and watching as the older girl cursed and grumbled while holding her face. "You awake now?"

"Erg. Yeah. You could have snapped me out of it you know," Tsuna grumbled as she sat up. "It felt like I was channeling a bit of Lambo there."

"Well in this state, I believe it is actually possible for us to channel our guardians," Uni mused, studying her own hand. "It's easier to harmonize with them at a distance when we aren't connected to our physical bodies."

Tsuna heaved a sigh and pushed herself to her feet. "Guess we need to get going then. Just have to make myself feel detached from my body, right?"

"That's right," Uni confirmed with a nod. "We should leave right away, as I'm sure you wouldn't like the way you've apparently been acting under Byakuran's influence."

The brunette shuddered. "Yes. I don't want to feel like bathing in a vat of boiling lava on top of the creeps I'm getting right now."

Uni giggled. "You're still so funny, Tsuna-san."

"How many times do I have to tell you to drop the honorifics," Tsuna grumbled as they walked out of the room and disappeared.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to our academy Giotto-kun, Luce-chan!" Byakuran called out cheerfully, popping a marshmallow into his mouth.<p>

The VA president glared, just barely keeping himself from lashing out right then. Luce, while not appearing as hostile in expression, was unsmiling and had fallen back into her days as boss by analyzing everything around her to a critical degree.

"Come now," Byakuran whined. "You two need to loosen up! Otherwise, this meeting is going to be _so_ boring and I might just have to skip."

Giotto's hands curled into fists, trying so hard not to let all their planning to go to ruin.

"Byakuran," Luce finally spoke up. "We're only going to say this once. Return Tsunayoshi to us or there _will_ be consequences."

The white haired teen hummed in mock thought. "No can do Luce-chan. You see, Tsu-chan and I already had prior arrangements, whether she was aware of them or not. It is the same with your youngest sister, Uni."

"What is all this talk about the three of you being connected?" Giotto demanded with a dangerously calm tone.

"Hmm~! Let me answer your question with a question of my own." Byakuran's eyes slid open to reveal amethyst orbs. "What do you two know about parallel worlds?"

* * *

><p>Twitch, twitch.<p>

"Why am I stuck with these two idiots again?" Gokudera growled into his comm. link. He was trying as hard as he could to not blow up at his small group.

"Oi," Lampo protested lazily, digging a finger into his ear. "Respect your senpai."

"You should be grateful that Lambo-san has decided to lend you my help!" The cow child laughed, his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out. His shrill and irritating laughter caused most of the others connected to the little communication device to turn down their volume.

"Hey at least you don't have loud and louder to keep track of," the older Gokudera sibling grumbled back. "Shut up you two! I told you to keep your mouths shut so that no one would hear us!"

It was clear that the two sun guardians were about to yell something, but the sound of muffled movement gave the others the idea that G had somehow suppressed them.

"I personally think that it's worse to be stuck with two perverts and an arrogant fake prince," added to the mix. The sound of the boy getting stabbed multiple times was easily heard by everyone. "Ow, senpai, master, big melon head. That hurts." Another stab. "Older pineapple brother, I said knock it off."

The group tuned out that particular group, as their little squabble would not be ending anytime soon.

"Just shut up and follow the plan!" Lal shushed.

"Why are there so many idiots allowed on this mission?"

…

"Alright, who's the wise guy/ass who said that?" G and Gokudera whispered shouted.

"But G, Hayato, doesn't that mean you're admitting that everyone along with you is an idiot?" Lampo inquired.

"Wait until I get my hands on you, you little-" G hissed.

"Kora! Save it, you three," Colonello interrupted, his tone serious and lacking the playful air he usually had. "This is important and there is no room for mistakes."

"Well said Colonello," Reborn agreed. "Now get into position. Xanxus and the younger Hibari are about to make the first move."

"I shall bite them all to death." The group could practically hear the bloodthirsty smirk in the younger skylark's voice.

"Die scum."

BOOM!

The very building shook from the power of the two separate attacks, sending a tremor through that was impossible to _not_ feel.

"That's your queue," Verde linked in.

"Since I'm not charging any of you, I'm going to break into their accounts for my pay. Consider yourselves lucky."

"Vooii! Just get on with it already."

"Hahaha! Good luck!" It was almost eerie how the two rain brothers could speak in synch.

Reborn left the whole group one final message on Tsuna's behalf. "Don't die."

"_Understood_!"

* * *

><p>"You know, as far as stupid plans went, I'd say this took the cake," Tsuna said with an exasperated sigh and a shake of her head.<p>

"But if Shoichi-san created this plan, then it should work out well enough," Uni argued.

"Effective, yes. But that doesn't rule out the fact that it's stupid." The brunette sighed again. "They're going to get their butts kicked and then killed, then _I'm_ going to have to go in and save their asses and clean up their mess."

The raven haired girl tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Tsuna-chan, that doesn't make any sense. How can you save them if they're already dead?"

"Exactly!" Tsuna exclaimed, like that proved everything.

Uni giggled, finding her companions behavior amusing.

But this seemed to wear the older girl out again and she sighed once more. "We better hurry up. I wasn't kidding Reborn when I said that there was one window for him to do what I need him to do."

"Hm~? But Tsuna-chan, don't you think this plan is risky as well?" The younger teen inquired. "This bullet hasn't been tested before this point, correct?"

"Well the way I thought about it was that it'd be a win-win situation for me in a way, as long as we're looking at the positive sides anyways. If it works, then everything should work out so that we put Byakuran in his place. If it doesn't work, then I'll die and Byakuran will still be unable to obtain the power he's after. See? Win-win." Tsuna ended with a confident nod.

"But…" Uni trailed off, unable to form the words she desired.

Sensing what the girl wanted to ask though, Tsuna shrugged. "Sure if it doesn't work, I'll die. But I don't mind _too_ much. I mean, I'll have died trying my best to save the people I care about. What more could I ask out of a situation like that one?"

"To live."

The two girls jumped and spun around, definitely not expecting to see the person behind them.

"No way…" Tsuna muttered.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean 'other worlds'?" Giotto demanded.<p>

"I mean exactly that, Giotto-kun~!" Byakuran replied cheerfully. "Let's say that you had the choice to go either left or right. Well in this world you might have chosen to go left, but then another world splits off becoming a parallel world, and in that world you go right. From all these choices that can be made, a parallel world exists. For example, there are multiple worlds in which Tsu-chan exists, but in the majority of them, she is actually a boy! There are some worlds where Tsunayoshi-kun is a demon and others where he is a teacher or an author and so on."

The blond glared to cover his shock and confusion. When he came to rescue Tsuna, he hadn't expected to get thrown into a world of, well, world_s_.

"Luce-chan knows what I'm talking about," the albino crooned.

The young woman sighed. Of course she knew, he role as the sky Arcobaleno along with her abilities made it impossible to be blind to these sorts of matters. "I may understand what you mean by parallel worlds. But this has nothing to do with Tsuna-chan, please return her to us."

"But that's where you're wrong~!" Byakuran sang, popping another marshmallow into his mouth. "Tsu-chan plays a huge role in all of this as the sky guardian for time, just like Uni plays a hug role as the sky guardian for the in between, and I play the last big role as the sky guardian for space! Don't you remember the song, Luca-chan?"

The raven's eyes widened in shock. "The Sea knows no bounds, the Clam passes down its form from Generation to Generation, and the Rainbow appears from time to time before fading away."

BOOM!

The three occupants in the room ignored the tremors, too caught up in their conversation.

Luce narrowed her eyes. "I see that you are the Mare ring holder. But Tsuna has not yet accepted the Vongola ring, nor do I believe does she ever intend to. Moreover, Uni is not the sky Arcobaleno, I am. Even if I should falter, Aria would take my place, not Uni."

"That _would_ be the case if this was 400 years ago, but in this current day and age," the Millefiore student council president argued, "in all the other worlds, Uni is the accepted sky Arcobaleno, so in this world she is perfectly compatible with that pacifier you're hiding. Now why don't you hand it over?" Byakuran opened his eyes to reveal lavender eyes with a dangerous and menacing glint.

Smack!

A portfolio slammed into the albino's face and slowly slid to the table before him.

"Next time you lock me in your damn office to do _your_ damn paperwork, I'll fucking neuter you."

The group whirled around to see their very own Tsuna walking through the doorway. Giotto was about to call out to the girl, but he paused. There was something wrong. Why hadn't she noticed them or said anything?

"Boo~" Byakuran whined, his earlier behavior taking a one eighty and returning to the initial playful air he had when the other two first entered. "Tsu-chan is no fun! Besides, I had a meeting."

"After filling out the proper paperwork I hope." The brunette's eyes narrowed even further when she didn't receive an immediate response and grabbed the boy's collar, pulling his closer threateningly. "You _did_ file the proper paperwork, didn't you?"

The white haired president laughed and easily freed himself, waving the girl away. "This time I did. You shouldn't worry so much Tsu-chan, or you're going to develop wrinkles faster."

Giotto and Luce took this time to observe the girl and to see if it really was their friend and not some imposter. The girl had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, though her fringe still hung down. She was wearing the Millefiore school uniform with a mix of both White and Black Spell. However, her White spell jacket sleeves were rolled up and the length only went to her midriff with the jacket unzipped, but she was wearing a black shirt underneath. She also had on the school's White Spell miniskirt, but black shorts extended past the short skirt's length. A somewhat thick Black Spell hung off her hips and she had black fingerless gloves covering her hands and wrists. The girl also word knee length combat boots, which were oddly stylish as well. However, for all her change of clothes and way of speaking, there was no doubt by the way she held herself and moved, proved that this person really was Sawada Tsunayoshi.

Tsunayoshi tossed the boy back into his chair, satisfied with his answer for now. "You felt that tremor right? Aren't you going to do something? All your stupid followers are running around like headless chickens, screaming about an attack and it's annoying."

"Hmmm~? An attack? You mean it wasn't an earthquake?" Byakuran laughed and raised his hands in surrender, as well as to wave the girl away when she raised a fist to punch the boy (a vein having popped from his childish attitude). "Just kidding, just kidding! Don't worry about the attack. I have Gen-kun and my funeral wreaths taking care of everything."

The brunette raised an eyebrow skeptically. "From all the flame attributes I counted, there are quite a few. Even if they were weaker than your so called guardians, they're outnumbered quite badly."

"Aaw~! Tsu-chan is worried about everyone after all!" The albino cooed.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Tsuna growled, slamming her fist down on top of the boy's head (though he remained unaffected), only the smallest amount of red crossing her cheeks. "I'm only concerned about the fact that if you go down, then you can't keep your end of the deal."

"Yes, yes. Don't worry, Tsu-chan. I remember," the Millefiore president said flippantly, trying and succeeding to piss the girl off more. "Now don't you think you should introduce yourself to our guests? It's rude of you to ignore them for so long."

The brunette rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, but dutifully turned toward the other occupants in the room. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. Who the hell are you?"

* * *

><p><strong>The fighting starts next chapter. I hope this was okay!<strong>

**Reviews are lovely~!**


	27. Chapter 27 To Protect

**Here's the next chapter! And because I forgot last time, I need to do my thanking for the reviews for chapter 25 here!**

**So thank you: WritingClockwork, Ayz283, Rikkai and hyotei lover, nwyd, Lily24, xXxMentalPancakesxXx, , BrokenBlackCat, LiterallyMetaphoric, Hamano Chiaki, RoxanneTheGreat, TheKawaiiStar21, SuperMegaAnimeLoverLilla, Hikari, silvermoon170, theskythatshinesbright, and gchik for reviewing chapter 25!**

**And thank you: SallyStar, SecretsTellNoLies, Rikkai and hyotei lover, moongirljc, Koichii, Iwataki, and osa-chan for reviewing last time!**

**As a note, when I said the strongest _eight_ I was including Lal. That's why I didn't say the I Prescelti Sette or just the Arcobaleno.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 25 TYL in Another World<p>

Sensing what the girl wanted to ask though, Tsuna shrugged. "Sure if it doesn't work, I'll die. But I don't mind _too_ much. I mean, I'll have died trying my best to save the people I care about. What more could I ask out of a situation like that one?"

"To live."

The two girls jumped and spun around to see a very unhappy familiar face standing behind them.

"Holy fish paste, he can see us?" Tsuna exclaimed.

Uni studied her hand in fascination. "I didn't think that was possible while we were in this form."

The person smirked, allowing himself a short moment of self-satisfaction before scowling. "Do not tell me that you have forgotten our agreement, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Forgot? Forgot what?" The brunette questioned innocently, looking away. Even so, she could still practically feel the other narrowing their eyes at her. She sighed and turned back toward the unexpected visitor. "Look, I remember alright? However, I _must_ take this chance. Otherwise, our agreement won't really mean anything."

The person stared at the two girls intently, searching for something that they really couldn't be entirely sure of before nodding once and flicking something toward the older of the two females. "Be sure to leave this on the other side when you get there."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow curiously, but pocketed the small object. She opened her mouth to question further about the other's sudden appearance, but with a single blink of the eye, he disappeared. The sky guardian sighed and shook her head. "Jeez. That guy sure is unpredictable, popping up out of nowhere and then leaving like that."

Uni didn't answer right away, an uncharacteristic frown settled on her face. "Tsuna-san…Just how many more secrets are you keeping from everyone?"

The brunette's features turned blank and unresponsive, and instead chose to continue walking toward their postponed destination. "Enough to ensure I always have the advantage," Tsuna muttered just loud enough for the other to hear, half glancing over her shoulder toward the other female. "I _have_ to be…"

* * *

><p>"We're lost…aren't we?"<p>

"Shut up, you seaweed-headed-senpai!" Gokudera snapped, pressing on his communications link again to try to get a hold of the others to determine their whereabouts. He gave an irritated huff when he only received static once more. "The information that weak-stomached girl gave us seems correct. We've reached the dead-zone so we better hope the rest of the plan goes smoothly."

A laugh rang out. "Rings, rings, rings! You have them, don't you?"

Gokudera swore and pushed the other two aside, just missing the attack. He twisted around to face the enemy, glaring angrily. "Who the hell are you?"

"Me? Why I'm the Mare Rain Ring holder, Glo Xinia," the magenta haired teen with lopsided bangs leered. "So tell me, which of you have the Vongola Rings? Byakuran-sama will be so pleased when I bring them back to him."

"Ne, ne! Old man with the bad haircut!" Lambo called out. "What are the clam rings?"

A vein popped out on the enemies' temple. "I am not an old man and this hairstyle is quite fetching of me! And it's not the clam rings brat! It's the Vongola Rings! One of the only three set of S Classed rings!"

"Hey, octopus-head," Lambo badged, pulling on the silver haired teen's pants. "Do you know what the twitchy old man is talking about?"

"Don't call me octopus-head you stupid cow!" Gokudera shouted. "And how the hell should _I_ know!"

"Not too many people should know about those rings," Lampo told the two with an uncharacteristically serious tone. "We have gone through extensive procedures to ensure that none of our younger siblings would know or have to worry about such things."

"Nii…san?" Lampo trailed of, a look of surprise and awe bleeding into his eyes. He had never seen his older brother act so professionally.

"You!" Glo Xinia shouted, pointing dramatically. "Lampo Bovino! I've heard of you! You must be the Vongola Decimo's Lightning Guardian!"

The green haired teen glared. "Both of you, stand aside. I'll take care of this one."

Gokudera was about to protest, he wanted to say that he could hold his own battles, that he had been taking out all of their opponents so far and that the older teen shouldn't underestimate him. But… he froze up instead. The look on the other's face was so out of place in his mind. All of his childhood, he could only remember a lazy and arrogant boy, who trailed after his idol as the youngest of the older group. Hayato never once considered that Lampo, and possibly the others, had a serious side to them. Had coming to this school really changed all of them that much? And…was that why Tsuna-sama didn't want the rest of them to come to? Tsuna-sama said that she was an assassin…Was this similar to what she looked like when she engaged in battle seriously?

Lampo reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring and, strangely enough, a small box.

"That's it! You must have the Lightning Vongola ring!" The Millefiore student cackled, veins popping out on his face in his insane excitement. "The ring, the ring, the ring. Give it to me!"

The green haired teen slipped his ring over his middle finger and tightened the same hand into a fist, green electrical flames bursting out from the accessory. The teen remained indifferent to the flame, even as the other two started in shock.

Glo Xinia smirked. "Do you believe that you are the only ones with that technology? Behold my beautiful Gufo di Pioggia! Ah!" The teen twisted around, searching his pockets repeatedly as he searched for his own box.

"Kufufufu, I must thank you for this fine gift." Mist gathered between the two groups and Mukuro appeared, holding a small indigo colored box. "It's just what I needed after all."

"What!" The magenta haired teen shouted in outrage. "My beautiful owl was a rain flame attribute! Not Nebbia!"

"It seems that this little animal chose otherwise. But that is neither here nor there. It seems that my attention is required elsewhere. Ciao," the illusionist chuckled as he faded away.

"NO!" Glo Xinia shouted in outrage, but the other intruder was already gone. He took a frustrated deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down and pulled out what seemed to be a riding crop covered in blue flame as well as another box. "No matter. I still have my strongest weapon in my arsenal." The male stuck a blue rain flame coated ring into a different box. "Come forth, my lovely Kraken di Pioggia!"

Gokudera and Lambo used hand to shield their eyes from the bright flash of blue light, gasping from the sight that lay before them. While the main body was hidden out of sight in the tank in the ground located behind the Millefiore student, ten giant tentacles swayed and raged behind him.

Lambo shrieked in fear. "L-L-Lambo-san i-isn't af-fraid!"

"Yeah, right!" Gokudera scoffed, though he wouldn't admit that he was also becoming quite wary.

"Lambo, calm down," Lampo said evenly, unaffected by the appearance of the Rain Kraken. "This is the world all of us have tried to protect you from…This is the world your Tsuna-nee has been battling on her own. Don't be afraid. Don't back down. This is the time for you to find your resolution. Right now I'll teach you what it really means to fight you're your life and for the sake of others. I'll show you my resolve."

The green haired teen finally stuck his crackling green flames into his emerald box. In another flash of light, mixed with the strokes of green lightning, a wok like shield appeared within teenager's arms. It was black in color and had a curious silver design trailing across the front that the other two boys were unable to make out, flickers of emerald lightning snaking over the defending side.

"Lampo's Shield…" The teen took a deep breath and cast a steady gaze over the rim of the ebony shield. "No matter what, no attacks will pass me…I'll protect you both."

* * *

><p>"Tsuna…is that you?" Giotto asked in complete shock.<p>

The brunette before him rolled her eyes. "No shit Sherlock, that's what I just said. Thanks for completely ignoring my own question by the way, because I absolutely _love_ talking to brainless dipshits."

"Tsuna, don't you recognize us? It's me Giotto! We grew up together?" The blond insisted.

The girl cocked an eyebrow, though she wasn't all that interested. "Slow down there buddy-boy. Not all of us are aboard the crazy train. The only idiot I've been stuck 'growing up' with is this marshmallow-addicted moron over here." The Tsuna-imposter jabbed her thumb at the albino next to her. "Unless you're talking about the good-for-nothing family and friends who abandoned me and condemned me to a life of experimentation and torture. But it's been years since I've had to recall their names, not that I would want to remember such bastardly people anyways."

Hurt flashed over the Vongola SC president's features, but then faded to overwhelming anger. "Byakuran! Where is the real Tsuna?"

The white haired boy smiled slyly. "This is Tsuna, Giotto-kun. Can't you see?"

"Giotto, look!" Luce hissed suddenly, grabbing the blonde's elbow to gain his attention.

The sky guardian's eyes narrowed as he searched the form of his figurative younger sister. Finally his gaze landed on her eyes, and his own widened in realization. Despite the girl's vibrant and crass attitude, her eyes were dull and glazed over, as if she wasn't really aware of herself. Byakuran must have magnified the real Tsuna's more cross personality as a cover. Giotto ground his teeth angrily. It didn't matter if he knew what Byakuran had done if he didn't know how to fix it.

"What exactly are you after Byakuran?" Luce asked calmly. "The power of the tri-ne-sette is much greater than you could ever assume. I doubt you could unleash anything but destruction even if you tried otherwise."

Byakuran hummed. "You're right. In all the other worlds, everything has ended up in ruins. In one other world I came close, but Tsunayoshi managed to stop me. But it just so happens that in this world, _I_ know a little secret and now have the advantage."

"And _what_ exactly would that be?" Giotto growled. It did not go unmissed that Tsuna was now standing still and silently dull next to the Millefiore SC president.

Byakuran leaned forward and his eyes slid open menacingly. "Why don't you guess?"

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

The three didn't move a muscle, even after the few sharp raps on the door.

Byakuran smirked, closing his eyes once more and leaning back into his sofa. "Come in. Ah! Leo-kun! I've been waiting for you."

* * *

><p>"Did you get what you were searching for?" Daemon asked with an amused chuckle as his brother reappeared in a dramatic cloud of mist.<p>

"Kufufu, just who do you think you are dealing with?"

"A pineapple shaped head of a master?"

_Stab_. "What was that you stupid apprentice?" Mukuro growled, his eyebrow twitching in irritation as he tightened his grip on the trident currently imbedding into his student's ridiculous hat.

"Ushishishi. Such an un-cute kohei. Why must the prince be stuck with this group?"

"Hush, we have company," Daemon hissed suddenly, twisting around to glare at a distant corner. "Why don't you come on out?"

The group all blinked in surprise when a shy looking blond female stepped cautiously into sight. The girl frowned and pulled out a rifle. "Y-You're the intruders aren't you?"

"Oya? So our next opponent is a beautiful young lady? It would be such a shame to harm such delicate beauty," Daemon said with a charming smile.

The girl blushed heavily, but didn't back down. "You're here to kidnap Tsuna-san and take her back to the people who hurt her. Byakuran-sama told me all about you bad Vongola people. I won't let anyone else hurt Tsuna-san!"

"Is that so?" The older blue haired male said with a slightly raised eyebrow. He turned slightly to let the other members of his group know that he was addressing them. "Why don't all of you go on ahead. I'll take care of this."

"Kufufufu, don't fall too hard brother," Mukuro snickered knowingly, turning and dragging his apprentice away by the scruff of his jacket.

Bel laughed. "Good. The prince doesn't feel like fighting weaklings. The prince shall leave such duties to the peasants." The Varia storm guardian laughed again as he laced his fingers behind his head and followed after the other two.

The young woman tried to scowl, but her enemy clearly found her expression ineffective and amusing, so she settled with her light glare. "I may not be a listed combatant, but you shouldn't assume that I'm weak either!"

"I would never assume such a thing, in fact," Daemon mused as he pulled out his scepter, "I'm actually hoping for a good fight. Though, if I may ask, I am curious as to what a pretty young lady such as you would be doing within the walls of such a despicable school like this."

"This school is an honorable one!" The blonde argued vehemently. "Byakuran-sama is kind and has helped all of us!"

"Is that what he has you believing now?" The blue haired male inquired, twirling his staff. "And what acts of kindness has Byakuran shown exactly?"

"My family's business suddenly took a plunge for some reason we don't understand, but then Byakuran-sama came in and saved out family from bankruptcy! He even offered to pay for my schooling within this prestigious academy while my parents worked to get themselves back on their feet," the young woman explained. "Only a good person would go that far for complete strangers! I just know that Byakuran-sama is a good person!"

"Nufufufu, how naïve."

"Well I wouldn't expect some cold hearted Vongola soldier to understand!"

Daemon shook his head, but still chuckled in amusement. "Tell me, what is your name? Or shall I continue to refer to you as beautiful young lady, or perhaps as my lady or young miss?"

"It is only polite that the inquirer be the first to respond," the young woman said irritably, nevertheless her blush had returned tenfold.

The mist guardian bowed, though he kept his eyes on the Millefiore student. "My apologies. My name is Daemon Spade, a pleasure to meet you."

"My name is Elena. I'm sorry, even though you seem like a very nice man, I must make sure that I also do my part to protect Tsuna." Suddenly the woman's gun crackled and an electrical burst shot out with alarming speed.

Daemon didn't even have time to blink.

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><p><strong>Bet you didn't expect Lampo to act that way. ;) And oh no! Daemon!<strong>

**Reviews are lovely~!**


	28. Chapter 28 Beat of the War Drums

**Thank you BrokenBlackCat, roYaLAnemone11, Rikkai and hyotei lover, silvermoon170, nisci, smileysparklea, osa-chan, ice2794, and ReaderWorm101 for reviewing the last chapter!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>Chapter 28 Beat of the War Drums<p>

"Voooii!" Squalo shouted over his shoulder. "Would you two keep up!"

Yamamoto laughed. "Sorry, we're coming now."

Levi huffed. "I'm only here for Xanxus-sama!"

Squalo rolled his eyes and marched onward. It wasn't worth pointing out, yet again, that Levi only ever replied with the same mantra. "Just get a move on. We have better fish to fry!"

The raven haired teen of the group laughed light heartedly. "That's a really good joke Squalo, because your name means shark right?"

"That wasn't a joke at all!" The silver haired male shouted, waving his sword around. "Can't you take this mission seriously dammit!"

Takeshi just laughed and laced his hands behind his head.

A sinister giggled cut through the group's antics. "Well look what we have here."

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><p>"Herbivores. I'll bite you to death." Hibari charged through yet another group of enemy combatants, plowing through like a hot knife through butter.<p>

"Chrome checking in," the young female illusionist said into her mic. "The outer East section is nearly finished up. The cloud man and I will be heading inside to provide backup soon."

A sudden blast and a cloud of smoke drew everyone's attention off to the side.

"Foolish weaklings. I'll arrest all of you."

Alaude's frame came into appearance, having just blasted a large portion of the school's student body out of commission. Handcuffs flew out and took down the few remaining students for both the North and East sections.

Hibari turned to his brother in outrage. "You're invading my section. I'll bite you to death." The raven teen jumped forth and attacked his sibling.

Alaude narrowed his eyes. "It is you who has crossed over into my territory foolish brother."

Chrome sighed and pressed the little communications button on her device again. "Chrome checking in, both North and East section have been finished up. But the cloud men won't be available for a little while, please stand by."

Laughter rang out, but only the female bothered to look over to see who it was, as the two brothers were still engaged in combat.

"It looks like we have some pests wandering about our school grounds! This is a perfect chance to try out my new cannons!" A beefy sort of teenager shouted. He sported a mohawk, tiny eyes, and ridiculously big armor. The teenager laughed again, only to notice that no one was paying attention to him. "Why you!"

The teenager smirked and charged up his turbine shoulder cannons and fired. Lighting flames blasted the intended area and smoke erupted from the blast.

The teenager laughed once more. "That's what you get from ignoring the great Dendro Chilum, the Top Lancer at Millefiore Academy!"

A clang of metal against metal stopped Dendro in his tracks. Not only had his attack failed, but the two cloud users hadn't even noticed him at all. Growing outraged, the teenager pulled out two boxes, plunging his ring into both and releasing a lighting boar and a enormous lance.

"I'll show you! My Elettro Cinghiale has five times the piercing power of my Lancia Elettrica! But I'll use my most powerful attack and tear you to shreds!" Dendro hopped onto the boars back and ordered it to charge. "Triplo Corno Lancia!"

Hibari and Alude continued ignoring the teen in favor of each other, dashing forward to strike. Right before their attack could hit, something came in between them. The brothers paused and looked down to see a heavily armored male lying between them.

Dendro, for all his boasting, had been taken out by a single unintentional synchronized attack.

"Cloud man, we are supposed to head inside," Chrome spoke up before the two could start fighting again. "Bossu is expecting us."

"Hn." Hibari turned on his heel and headed toward the gaping hole in the school's wall he had made sometime during his rampage. "I'll bite you to death when we return with the omnivore."

The elder brother rolled his eyes and headed back to his own section. "I don't fight children."

The young female illusionist smiled slightly and ran after her partner for the mission. It was almost funny how those two showed their affections, but she still recognized it quite easily.

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><p>At the same time on the other side of the school, Xanxus was facing his own nuisance. He crushed his earpiece where Squalo's voice came shouting through. "Fucking noise."<p>

"Oh? That must be..." A new voice called out.

"There's no mistake. That's the Varia's boss," another person, definitely up in their years stated. "Formerly the man who almost became the Vongola's tenth boss, or so they say…Xanxus."

The said teenager looked up lazily to see a teenager that looked a lot like that pest Belphegor and a butler floating up in the air. From what he could see, they were a waste of time.

"Such an incredibly vile look~. No wonder he's the boss of a delinquent squad. But," Rasiel smirked, "you're not really that strong, are you? Didn't you lose to a little school girl? ShehShehSheh! Stopped by a fourteen year old girl, Sawada Tsunayoshi! Isn't that super lame!"

Xanxus just stared. When was this person going to be done, he had better things to do than listen to more trash rambling.

"Ohoho? What's the matter? Jt the mark, did I? Are we lost for words? ShehShehSheh!"

The teen stopped laughing when Xanxus yawned and leaned back into the throne he made Levi bring (it was further proof how much everyone in this school was trash since they couldn't get him to stand up for even their own raid).

"Oi. Are you going to keep sprawling like that? The only one who can sit on a chair and fight is his great royal highness Prince Siel." To this, the scared teenager closed his eyes and made himself comfortable. "Why, you...You obviously don't understand your current position."

Xanxus slowly raised his arm and beckoned the two with a single finger. Bring it trash.

"Kaching." The arrogant prince leaned forward slightly in anger.

"Prince Siel," the butler interrupted, "there's no need to dirty your own hands. Leave this to me. Elefante Forte Pioggia!" The rain flame elephant burst forth from the small box and charged. "Eat this and die! Martello Della Terra"

A boom sounded as the attack struck and the ground broke apart.

"GaaHaaa~! Squished to bits!" Rasiel laughed.

However, something was off to the butler. Olgert moved to get a better look around his elephant, only to see it turned to stone and hovering in the air right above his intended target. "Impossible! He stopped it without even touching it?!" A shadow flickered behind the teen, catching the older man's eye.

"Well, I was going to take my time. But, now that you uttered the name Sawada Tsunayoshi, you two scumbags…" Flames of wrath gathered in Xanxus's hand. "Fucking die!"

The box weapon was blasted to pieces, leaving the Millefiore student and his servant in shock.

"Wha-! This is nonsensical…" Olgert said horrified awe. "He stopped the elephante forte pioggia completely…"

"You're the one being nonsensical, Olgert," Rasiel chastised, though his smirk was gone. "The culprit stopping the elefante forte gioggia is something else."

"A box weapon!" The elderly man realized.

"Bingo~. Behind him, in the shadow under that piece of rock. Do you see the pair of hostile red eyes."

A white lion prowled out from under its hiding place, padding over to its master's side.

The butler looked down, his eyes growing wide. "Th-That box weapon is…Leone Di Cielo"

"An extremely rare: White King of Beasts, eh?" The prince studied the animal with a bit of fascination.

"That's right! It was said they couldn't be copied: The Sky Lion Series!"

"Heh. Xanxus, your wave energy attribute is sky after all. Yet, you're the bastard who go rejected by the Vongola! That's it! Compared to me, the rightful successor of the royal crown, you're far, far inferior! You're just a mixed breed!" Rasiel shouted out mockingly, so sure of his superiority.

"Oi," Xanxus called up. "I've heard enough of your yowling."

"How dare you!" The tiara wearing teen snapped.

"Please wait, Prince Siel! Something's not right! I don't believe the Leone Di Cielo is capable of doing that. Because the sky attribute's characteristic is harmony!" Olgert pointed out.

"Who cares about that? Whatever the opponent may be...They're all the same once we kill them." A sinister grin slid across Rasiel's face once more.

"Yes sir." The elderly servant immediately called out two more rain elephants. "Prepare yourself, Xanxus. I will force you off that chair, and you will kneel on the floor! Watch this! Doppio Martello!"

"Bester," the teen said calmly. The sky lion leapt forth and roared, petrifying the box weapons yet again. Xanxus raised another handful of flames of wrath again. "Go to hell."

"You're such a fool," Rasiel commented as his attack finally made its mark. "Shehshehsheh. Well? How does it feel? The ultrasonic flames of my Pipistrello Tempesta. Are you still going to continue sitting down there? Otherwise, before you can get up...That might just turn into your eternal resting chair."

Xanxus just continued to glare, even with his breath a little heavier than before and blood running from his ears.

"The petrification on the rain elephants has been reversed."

"Very well. Destroy them." The self proclaimed king ordered.

Suddenly, the sky lion jumped forth and roared viciously, stripes appearing on its fur as the scars on Xanxus became more prominent.

"What! It uses its roar to attack!" Olgert staggered back from the force of the attack, shock clearly evident in his tone.

"You two are seriously making me mad."

Xanxus watched as the two fumbled for answers over what was happening.

"Bester is neither a lion nor a tiger... Whoever said a mix breed was inferior?" The teen allowed the enemy to take in his Ligre Tempesta de Cielo, his gift from his little sister. It was time he retrieved his family. He brought out his x-guns and fired, taking out all the storm bats in one fell swoop. "Bester."

"Olgert! Don't just stand there! Hurry, form a full shield!" Rasiel prompted in his rising panic.

"Yes, sir! Pellicano Di Pioggia, maximum defence!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Xanxus sneered. In a single roar, both the pelican and the butler were turned to stone and broken apart.

"My-My legs!" Rasiel shouted, jumping out of his throne. "Eee! It got me too!"

"Hey, fucking scumbag," the adopted child of Vongola Nono called up to the last survivor. "Weren't you going to stay on your princely throne and fight?"

"Kuh!" The other student reeled back, realizing he had lost this battle. He scrambled desperately for his life. "Wait! Hold on, calm down! I'll let you talk to Lord Byakuran! I know what you want! What you want is...to be the boss of the Vongola right? It's obvious why you hate Sawada Tsunayoshi more than anything, right? That's why you've declared yourselves under the command of the ninth boss! That's it, isn't it? She stole the title of the tenth boss from you! With our combined power, we could defeat that hateful Sawada and crown you boss of the Vongola! More accurately, the Millefiore Vongola Branch! I'll settle it with Lord Byakuran and get you appointed among the executives of the Millefiore! Lord Byakuran is a very generous man! After we defeat Sawada Tsunayoshi, you will be equal to the present Vongola! No! You'll be able to have more power than you ever imagined! Shehshehsheh! What do you think? It's great, isn't it?"

"Fucking scumbags. I only want the Vongola when it's at its strongest. I'd rather puke than work under you scumbags. And you got a few things wrong. Sawada Tsunayoshi is to be the Vongola Decimo because she'll bring the family to its strongest. Also, the Varia have declared ourselves under her not the ninth. Tsunayoshi is one of ours and you have taken that, which is why we'll give you what your deserve trash. Regardless of our internal strife, in times of crisis, when we are attacked by scumbags from the outside, we- the Vongola- are always as one. And last of all, you piece of pathetic trash, I don't hate Sawada Tsunayoshi," Xanxus raised his weapon. "She's my imouto."

The trigger was pulled and a blast of his mixed element flames burst forth.

Xanxus huffed and finally stood up, heading toward the school. It was time he retrieved what was his. The Varia looked after their own after all.

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><p>"Get them!"<p>

"Sorry, kora! But we have things to do." With that, Colonello fired, taking out the group of charging Millefiore students.

"Hm. 20 percent energy used," Lal observed, raising her goggles. "Not bad. You get an A."

The blond smile brightly. "Aw, thanks Lal-chan!"

"Idiot!" The bluenette blushed furiously and slapped the back of her kohei's head. "Get your head on straight, we're in the middle of a mission!"

However, Colonello just laughed and moved forward. "Kora! Lal, you should be nicer to your favorite student."

The woman rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You're my only student idiot. Now come on, we need to disable the surveillance system."

The blonde chuckled but didn't comment, allowing himself to become serious once more as they neared the entrance to another room. "Looks like no one's home," he muttered as the two peered inside the large space.

Lal Mirch slid her goggles back in place and looked around as well. "I'll go in first. Wait for my signal, then follow."

Colonello gave a curt nod and pressed his back against the wall as his team member moved into the room.

"All right. It's fine. There doesn't seem to be anything...Wait!" Lal tensed as the heat signal her device detected started multiplying rapidly.

"Lal! What's wrong? What's going on in there!"

"Kuh! Over there!" The blue haired woman fired and a blast erupted as the attacks met in the middle.

"Lal!" Colonello shouted, moving into the room despite not receiving a signal. "Are you alright?"

"It's just a graze," the woman dismissed easily, holding her bleeding arm.

"You managed to see through the pattern of these randomly multiplying targets and devise a counter within a hair's breadth. As expected from an Arcobaleno failure." The attacker snapped his fingers.

Colonello narrowed his eyes and raised his weapon to prepare to attack. "That outfit belongs to the magician's doll. You're Gingerbread, aren't you."

"Fufu~ And here we have the Rain Arcobaleno too," the young looking boy said, ignoring the other's question. "I have quite the catch today. So who should I kill first?"

"What was that?" Colonello demanded, outraged.

Lal swung out an arm to stop the other. "Back off, Colonello. I'll take this one."

"Are you sure?" Gingerbread taunted. "You two may be making a strong front for each other, but you two don't seem so hot after being in the non tri-ni-sette radiation for so long."

Both Arcobaleno ground their teeth together in frustration. It was infuriating, but it was true. That radiation was slowing them down and making them weaker.

"But, that's enough for the teasing. It's time to have some fun~. However, we're only going to have one round, just you and me. Once I've taken care of you, I'll be reporting to my superiors. By then, I'd probably have gotten bored with all this." The magician snapped his fingers together and suddenly an army of sun spiders sprang up between the two Vongola students and spewed out a wall of webs.

"Lal!"

"You're too naive, much too naive. And you call yourself one of the I'Prescelti Sette." Gingerbread smirked. "Let's make this fight more exciting. I'm sure your friend doesn't want to be left out either, hm?"

"Gaah!" The Rain Arcobaleno collapsed from the sudden surge of non tri-no-sette radiation.

"Colonello!" Lal shouted in concern. But her cries went unheard as the blond grimaced in pain.

"Fufu~. Naive, much too naive." The magician's doll chuckled as he took in the rage on his opponent's face. "Don't disappoint me now~."

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><p><strong>It <strong>_**would**_** be Xanxus, Hibari, and Alaude who would finish up their fights all in one chapter. -.- But there's a sweet little moment with Xanxus that I hope you liked. ;D**

**And, oh no! Colonello!**

**Reviews are lovely~! And they are like food for thought!**


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